


Money and Mercury

by insanity_by_proxy



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Victorian, Angst, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Mental Instability, Mental Institutions, mercury poisoning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-07 08:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insanity_by_proxy/pseuds/insanity_by_proxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma is a working class girl who suddenly finds herself forging a friendship with Storybrooke's infamous eccentric recluse. But nothing is ever really as it seems. And as their relationship develops Emma finds that there are more sinister forces at work in Jefferson's life than he even seems to be concious of. Victorian AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Mad Swan Secret Santa 2013 for Tumblr user weatherwaxstudios who gave me the prompt for a Victorian AU and my imagination went a little bit nuts...

Act I

The house down the road at the edge of the woods was haunted, some said. Others claimed that the man who lived there was a cannibal, or a baby-eater, or maybe even one of those vampire-creatures like in the story from the weekly serials written by that Irish gentleman. The official account changed depending on the person you asked, but popular opinion agreed that no one normal lived in that house. But Emma Swan didn’t believe in all that stuff-and-nonsense that so delighted the town’s gossips, and children. Emma wasn’t even sure that anyone lived at number 316 Forrest Road, never mind something so exotic as a cannibal or a vampire. The facts of the matter were these: since the current occupant of number 316 Forrest Road moved into the house five years ago, no one in the small town of Storybrooke, Maine had ever seen them come or go. The only visitors they ever received was Dr. Victor Whale, the physician who came to Storybrooke every few weeks to check up on the town’s folk who couldn’t make it all the way to Augusta for their appointments. The house never received any post, but the general store on Main Street had instructions to deliver certain groceries and other household items on a regular basis, but aside from that, whomever lived in the house did so without any contact with the outside world. 

Naturally, after a week of this type of behavior people became curious. It was only polite to invite one’s neighbors over for tea when someone new entered into a neighborhood, but all the invitations went unanswered. This was taken as snobbery of the highest order, and the other residents of Forrest Road had all vowed to repay the rudeness tit-for-tat and refuse any social invitations made over the holidays. When none came to anyone, and when on Christmas Eve no carriages or guests ever arrived at the doorstep of number 316 Forrest Road, the good towns’ folk of Storybrooke went absolutely mad with curiosity. 

This is when the rumors began to spread; a melancholic poet, a poor old Mrs. Havisham locked up in the house forever wearing her wedding dress, a Russian millionaire, horrifically scarred in battle and heartbroken over the death of his life-long sweetheart, a German spy, escaped with state secrets and hiding for fear of discovery and execution, and the stories only ever grew wilder as the years went by. 

Emma had moved onto Forrest Road a year ago, when she’d finally completed her education at Our Lady of Miraculous Mysteries School for Ladies, Storybrooke’s finishing school, run by the local convent. She’d gone straight from the dormitories at Miraculous Mysteries and into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Darling as a nanny for their three children. The elder boy, John, was old enough to be getting into real mischief and had told Emma and his siblings with a fevered excitement in his voice that he and his friends had ventured onto the 316 Forrest Road property that day, and they had tried to see if anyone was there inside by peeking in through the windows. Emma had cocked an eyebrow at him from where she sat, mending a tear in his jacket, as he described to his siblings the shadowy figure he had seen silhouetted by light from another window, and how the boys had bolted when the dark figure had moved quickly towards the windows as if it had spotted them. 

Emma didn’t believe in ghosts. Or at least, that’s what she was telling herself as she wandered up the road towards the infamous house at the edge of the trees. It was a large structure, with three levels and a spire standing at the front of the house that harkened to a gothic cathedral. A wall of glass made up the conservatory, and opened out onto a sunny terrace in the back of the property. It was not the largest house in Storybrooke, but at one time it had been one of the loveliest. Five years of neglect however, had taken their toll. The careful landscaping that every other house along the street prided itself on was completely overgrown, and the windows all sported a hefty layer of grime where they should have been allowing in copious amounts of sunlight. The house certainly fit the bill for what a haunted house should look like; weeds in the garden, shingles hanging off the siding, potentially creaky-floorboards along the wrap-around porch, and a wrought iron fence that had definitely seen better days with its paint cracked and peeling and the iron rusting away underneath. 

Emma stepped up to the bars intending to peer through at the house without actually trespassing onto someone’s private property. The Darling boys and their friends might be able to get away with such mischief, all of them being the sons of Storybrooke’s wealthier residents, but Emma, a working class girl and an orphan to boot, would likely find herself unemployed and homeless if one of the Darling’s neighbors ever lodged a complaint about her. Still the curiosity she felt towards this house had only ever been growing since she’d started her employment with the Darlings. 

Emma had heard all the gossip when the hubbub had first started; the girls in the dormitories of Miraculous Mysteries were all the chatty sort that liked such childish things. Emma had always dismissed the stories as silly fantasies created to bring some sort of excitement into the monotony of everyday life in Storybrooke. But Emma’s group of friends would always crowd around the weekly newspaper, where the gossip column would always have a new biography for whomever it was that actually lived in 316 Forrest Road, and Emma couldn’t help but eavesdrop as they read aloud and laughed over the outrageous stories. It had become something of a point of pride to the small town; whenever someone new would come to visit, number 316 Forrest Road would always be shown off as the “house of mystery.” But now that she lived so close to the infamous residence Emma was finding it harder and harder not to simply go up to the door and knock, and put an end to the mystery once and for all.

And so Emma found herself at the edge of the 316 Forrest Road property staring through the wrought iron bars that made up the perimeter fence. It was Emma’s afternoon off, one of only two she got a week, and she had decided that she couldn’t stand to be inside for a moment longer despite the grey clouds that hung overhead and threatened her with soaking her one good dress through to the bone. The house looked how it always did, silent and abandoned; but there was something about looking in at the house through the iron bars that reminded Emma of a prison. 

Could it be that the people who lived there never left the house because they couldn’t? 

The thought was disconcerting enough that Emma stepped up and climbed onto the lower rungs of the fence so that she could have an unobstructed view of the house, and therefore banish the thoughts of someone trapped within its darkened rooms entirely from her mind. But the bit of the fence she had chosen to climb was one of the more heavily rusted sections, and the fence gave a groan of complaint before collapsing entirely under her weight, sending Emma tumbling onto the front lawn of number 316 Forrest Road. Where she struck her head on the stump of a tree and promptly lost consciousness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was winter and the dormitories at Our Lady of Miraculous Mysteries School for Ladies were freezing cold. Some of the girls had led an exodus out of their own rooms and into the rooms of some of their friends, casting respectability to the wind in favor of not losing one’s toes to frostbite before morning. 

Mary Margaret, and Ruby had not woken Belle and Emma when they’d knocked on their door. Both pairs of girls were far too cold to find sleep on their own and they were all blissfully relieved when they bundled two girls into each of the narrow beds and huddled close together for warmth; Ruby and Belle in one bed, Mary Margaret and Emma in the other.

Ruby and Belle had found sleep relatively quickly, after the giddiness at the novelty of the situation had worn off. But Emma and Mary Margaret continued to whisper to each other late into the night. 

“I’m going to be a school-teacher, when I get out of here.” Mary Margaret said, with so much conviction that Emma simply had no choice but to believe her. They were nearly twenty years old, if they had grown up in wealthier families they likely would have been married by now. But instead they still had a year left to complete of finishing school before they would be allowed to pursue either a courtship or some form of employment. Since the school was run by the same convent of nuns that ran Storybrooke’s orphanage, Emma had been allowed to attend the school without paying tuition as the other girls had to as a result of her status as an “unfortunate.” 

“I’m going to leave Storybrooke, and go to the city… maybe even as far as Boston, or New York.” Mary Margaret continued, pushing the long braid of her dark hair back over her shoulder. 

Emma smiled at her sadly. 

“I wish I could hope to get that far.” She said.

Mary Margaret got a look on her face that showed she was utterly incapable of ever believing that things just might not turn out exactly the way Emma wanted them to. It was both endearing and immensely frustrating.

“I haven’t got any one like you have, Mary. If things don’t work out for you, your family will help you. I’ve only got myself. There’s only so much reliable work a woman can find, and if I fail… I’d be ruined.”

Mary Margaret frowned, obviously seeing Emma’s point, but unwilling to concede defeat. 

Suddenly she ginned widely. “I bet you find some rich gentleman to take you away from here. I bet some prince comes to Storybrooke and sees you toiling away in somebody’s kitchen, and he falls instantly in love with you and whisks you away from us to be his queen.”

Emma couldn’t help but giggle. “I don’t believe in fairy-stories.” She said, though she still smiled at the thought.

Mary Margaret suddenly became very serious, her smile dropping from her face like a lead weight, and she squeezed Emma’s hand tight underneath the wool blanket they shared.

“If anyone deserves a fairy-story it is you, Emma.” 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Emma noticed as she began to regain consciousness was the sound of someone shuffling around on a carpeted floor, then the clink of fine china being set down on a metal surface of some sort. Then a sudden deep throb of pain in her forehead, made her groan. Emma opened her eyes, she didn’t recognize her surroundings. It was a living room furnished with expensive looking sofas and arm chairs all huddled around a massive fireplace. She could see a cello sitting in one corner. 

Where was she? This wasn’t the Darling’s parlor. What in the world had happened to make her head feel like her skull was caving in?

Emma’s last memories were of the dream she had been having. It sent a wave of nostalgia crashing through her chest as she thought of her old friend. Mary Margaret had indeed found her way out of Storybrooke; moving to a small town just outside of Boston, where according to her last letter, she had met a charming farmer. Emma wondered how they were getting on, she hadn’t heard from Mary in a few weeks now. 

But then Emma remembered what she had been doing before the dream, and Emma sat up quickly when she realized she must be inside number 316 Forrest Road. 

“Ah, she returns to the land of the living.” Said a male voice from behind her. 

Emma whipped her head around and immediately regretted that decision as it sent her head spinning, and made her stomach jump up into her throat as it threatened to spill her breakfast over the room’s oriental carpet.

She must have gone deathly pale because the man who had spoken to her suddenly filled her vision, as he caught her from falling forward onto the floor. 

“Easy there!” He said as she helped her lay back on the cushions. “I didn’t mean to startle you. You took a nasty tumble and hit your head pretty hard. I think you may be concussed.”

Emma waited for her vision to swim back into focus before replying, but found herself startled into silence by the man’s appearance. He had a mop of brown hair that was well past due for a trim, and a long shaggy beard that covered half his face. Between the beard and the bags under his eyes, and the paleness of his skin his age could have been anywhere between twenty and fifty. The most striking part of his face were his eyes; a bright blue that contrasted sharply with the shadows of his face. His clothes were well tailored and up-to-date with current fashions, which surprised Emma given the unkempt nature of his physical appearance. However, they hung loosely off of his body. The last thing Emma noticed were that his fingertips were wrapped in a heavy gauze. 

The man suddenly broke eye-contact with Emma and seemed to withdraw into himself. 

“I know my appearance is somewhat shabby, but I had no idea it would be that startling.” 

Emma shook her head and mentally slapped herself. 

“No! It’s not that! It’s just… this is your house?”

The man looked quite confused. 

“It’s only that there are stories about this place…” Emma trailed off, unsure if she should continue. 

The man nodded, as realization dawned. “Ah, yes, I am quite aware of what people are saying about me.” 

He gestured vaguely to the coffee table, and Emma spied the local newspaper, the Storybrooke Mirror, wherein all the latest speculation about the occupants 316 Forrest Road was published in the gossip column. 

“So, you’re not a vampire then?” Emma asked, jokingly while peering up at him from under her eyelashes.

The man laughed in response. 

“I’m afraid not.” He confessed. “Fiction is so much more interesting than reality, wouldn’t you agree?” 

“That depends on the reality.” Emma replied, meeting his gaze. 

The man smiled. 

“Well said, Miss…” He trailed off and stared at her meaningfully.

“Swan.” Emma replied. “My name is Emma Swan.” 

He smiled again to himself, and gave an exaggerated bow. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Swan. I am certain that you’d live up to your name-sake under less trying circumstances than rickety fence posts. My name is Jefferson Dodgson.”

Emma nodded her head politely, in lieu of the curtsey that society would have deemed appropriate. But Mr. Dodgson didn’t seem to mind.

“The pleasure is mine.” She added. 

“I saw you through the front window there,” He said as if in explanation, and pointed to one of the walls which looked out over the front lawn. It took a moment for Emma to realize that he was talking about her fall. “I do apologize for the state of the place, I’m afraid I’m not well enough to take care of the upkeep on my own.” 

Emma looked at him perplexed. “You don’t have any staff to take care of such things?”

Jefferson made a face. “Err… well, no. And the persons who usually take care of such business for me have evidently not deemed it necessary.” 

Emma suddenly remembered herself. “I am sorry, it’s not my place to pry.” She apologized.

“On the contrary, I really shouldn’t be so shy about it.” He replied, but made no attempt to explain any further. 

“I was worried, when I saw you fall.” He continued instead. “And then when you didn’t get up, I thought it would be best to see if you were alright… the amount of blood in your hair, I had almost thought you were dead. So I brought you inside and I called my physician. He said you were likely just stunned and would recover shortly.” 

Emma blinked as she tried to digest all of that new information. 

“Would you like a cup of tea?” Jefferson asked, standing quickly and moving out of Emma’s line of vision. Before she could answer, he returned with a metal tray loaded with a china tea set and he placed it carefully on the coffee table. He began to pour out two cups, only pausing briefly to ask her how she took it. Emma remained mostly silent throughout, completely baffled by the strange situation she found herself in. But as she watched him prepare their tea, she saw his hands trembled as he worked. 

“Are you from Storybrooke?” Jefferson asked, attempting to make polite conversation while they sipped their tea.

“I am.” She said. 

Jefferson smiled at her, encouraging her to continue.

Emma obliged a little hesitantly. “…I’m employed as a nanny for the Darlings’ three children. They live just down the road, actually.” 

Jefferson seemed completely unfazed by her occupation. Strictly speaking, wealthy gentlemen, for that was surely what Jefferson must be if he owned a house such as 316 Forrest Road, did not take tea with nannies, it simply wasn’t the done thing. 

“I see.” He said. “So what brought you onto my property so abruptly?”

Emma blushed. “I apologize for that… I – I’ll pay for the fence.” Emma had no idea where she’d get the money to do so, but she had been the one to break it. 

Jefferson waved his hand in the air as if her words could be banished like smoke. When it appeared that Jefferson was still interested in her answer, Emma obliged him with a response. 

“I was curious, is all. There are so many wild stories flying around town about you, and now that I live so close by, I just couldn’t resist. I never expected to end up in the house, but life is unpredictable at times I suppose.” 

“Indeed.” Jefferson, leaned back into the arm chair he sat in and inspected her. “Well, I am glad you are not hurt, and it has been so long since I’ve had any company. It is good to see a face other than my own, and my doctor’s. I assure you Victor Whale isn’t half as lovely as you are.” 

Emma found herself smiling at him. “Why don’t you have more company then, if you enjoy it?” She asked.

Jefferson’s face darkened considerably, and Emma rushed to cover her tracks.

“Excuse me, Mr. Dodgson. Of course, it’s none of my business.” 

But he held up his hand gently to silence her. “Really, it’s quite alright. I do realize how rude it must seem, but… I have my reasons.” He concluded lamely, with a shrug.

Emma frowned, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. Her eyes wandered around the parlor and they caught on a photograph of Jefferson as a young boy, seated next to an elderly gentleman. The one next to it was of Jefferson as a younger man standing in front of a haberdasher’s and beaming. Emma recognized it as the hat shop near the center of town  
.  
“Oh dear…” Jefferson said, suddenly and Emma looked up. “It’s begun to rain.”

Emma turned in her seat and stared out the window where the skies had opened up and were dropping a deluge over the town of Storybrooke. Emma groaned, realizing that not only would she be returning to the Darlings’ late, but she would also be absolutely drenched. Emma looked down at herself and concluded that the state of her clothes really couldn’t be much worse anyway. Her blouse had been protected during the fall by her coat, but the hem of her walking dress was ripped and large smears of mud stained the fabric. Jefferson had stood and was offering Emma a hand up when she turned around. 

“We should get you back to where you came from before it gets any worse.” Jefferson said, helping her with her coat and hat. 

“I’m not sure it can get any worse.” She sighed, and Jefferson laughed in response. 

“You might be right.” He said as moved over to a closet by the door to the room and pulling on an overcoat, and pulling out a wide umbrella and then finally setting a wide-brimmed pork pie hat on his head. The combination of his wild hair, and wilder beard really made the whole ensemble ghastly, but Emma had a feeling the Darlings wouldn’t have wanted anything less when she told them who the man walking her home had been. 

“Shall we?” He said, gesturing to the door with an innocent smile.

Emma stepped out onto the porch, not looking forward to the, albeit brief, walk down the road. As she peered up at the clouds to look for any chance of a break in the rain, her eyes wandered down to the hole in the fence where she’d fallen. Emma’s hand drifted up to her hair unconsciously, and it felt matted with both dried and fresh blood. 

Jefferson finished locking up his house, and prepared the umbrella, before offering Emma his arm so that they could both huddle under the canvas to avoid the raindrops. Anyone within speaking distance would have told them that it was highly inappropriate for a domestic servant to be walking arm-in-arm with a gentleman, but it was raining so no one was within speaking distance and Emma found that she didn’t care when he smiled at her happily. Soon they fell into a gait that was comfortable for the both of them. 

“It’s funny,” He said after a moment. “This is the first time I’ve been outside of that house in years.” 

Emma chuckled to herself. “It did occur to me.” 

“Would you mind if I –?” But he was already guiding her around, and they stood in the rain and stared back at Jefferson’s house.

“Oh good lord!” He cried. “They told me they’d been keeping up with the repairs…”

The second part did not appear to have been addressed to Emma, or indeed to anyone at all, so Emma simply watched Jefferson as he took in the state of his property. 

“This is horrific.” He concluded. “No wonder people think I’m a baby-eater…” 

Then he began to laugh, and after a moment Emma had to join in as well. 

“It’s a miracle my neighbors didn’t knock the doors down and force me to move out.” 

Emma shrugged, still smiling. “I think they’ve gotten used to it. If you change things now, Storybrooke will lose a tourism landmark.”

“Come along then, Miss Swan.” He said, wheeling them back around. “Nothing for it just now, so let us return you to your rightful place.”

Soon enough they came to Mr. and Mrs. Darling’s door. It was one of the other servants, a young girl named Ava, who opened the door.

“Mrs. Darling, come quick!” The girl shouted. “Emma is at the door, and she’s been injured!”

Mrs. Darling and her children emerged from the parlor, quickly followed by Mr. Darling and their cook. 

“Oh, you poor thing!” cooed Mrs. Darling. “You’re drenched to the very skin.”

The children all clutched at Emma’s skirts and told her all at once how they had missed her, and how they had spent the whole afternoon searching for her. It wasn’t until Mr. Darling cleared his throat, that anyone else noticed a stranger standing in the doorway. 

“Oh, Mr. Darling,” Emma started. “May I introduce Mr. Dodgson, he is the man who discovered me after I fell and hit my head on a tree stump…”

“Ah, thank you sir, for assisting Miss Swan, the children are all terribly fond of her, and it would have been a shame to have to find a new nanny for them.” Mr. Darling said shaking Jefferson’s hand, but obviously having reservations about his appearance. 

Jefferson frowned at the man. “And I’m sure the loss of Miss Swan would have been a real tragedy in itself. I’ve only been acquainted with her this afternoon, but I’ve found her spirit and inquisitive nature most agreeable…”

“Quite.” Was all that Mr. Darling replied, obviously not having the slightest idea what he was talking about.

“Now, where did you say you lived, Mr. Dodgson? I don’t believe we’ve met.” Mrs. Darling enquired. 

“Just up the road, actually. At number 316.” Jefferson replied.

The stunned silence that filled the room could have been cut with a knife, and Emma squirmed uncomfortably as she felt all eyes in the room slide simultaneously from the stranger in the foyer, to herself. 

“I was afraid she was concussed by her fall.” Jefferson continued, reclaiming everyone’s attention. “So I consulted my physician, and he said that you must be sure that she does not sleep for the next twenty-four hours, in case the injury should become more severe.” 

Mrs. Darling nodded. Being the proper society lady that she was, Mrs. Darling was the first to recover her senses after the shock about the true identity of Emma’s rescuer. “Of course, we will see that she is well taken care of, thank you.”

“Hooray, no bed-time!” Applauded the youngest boy, Michael. 

Jefferson nodded. “Well, I’ll leave her in your capable hands Mrs. Darling. Good evening, all.” Then he looked at Emma. “Good evening, Miss Swan. It was a pleasure.”

Emma nodded back at him from where the children still clutched at her skirts. “Likewise.” She replied.

Then he left, leaving Emma to deal with absolute mayhem that erupted with his departure.


	2. Aquaintence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma is asked to upset her life for the sake of a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’ve tried very hard to portray Jefferson’s illness as accurately and gently as possible, bearing in mind I’ve changed his issues greatly from the cannon. I do apologize for the delay, minor mental breakdowns and massive amounts of course work have conspired against me. 
> 
> A note on the history: I’ve set this story in the late 1890s to coincide with the publishing of Dracula (1897) and the spread of switchboard telephones in the States (1880s-90s).

Act II

A few days later an invitation arrived at the Darling’s door addressed to Miss Emma Swan. Five sets of eyes stared at her intently over the breakfast table as Emma opened the letter to reveal an invitation for tea sent by Jefferson Dodgson. 

“How peculiar…” Was all that Mrs. Darling said on the matter, before enthusiastically encouraging her to attend. The woman being far too curious about the town’s infamous recluse to worry about silly things like, whether or not it was at all proper for a working-class nanny to be taking tea with a gentleman. 

Thus began the friendship between Jefferson Dodgson and Emma Swan. 

She would go over for tea every few days while the children were at school, and on her days off while they were on holiday. This pattern repeated for months during which time Emma discovered Jefferson’s passion for music, and literature. Emma had never been a particularly studious person during her formal education, but she found herself enjoying it more when the books were borrowed from Jefferson’s extensive library collection and came with his enthusiastic recommendations. They would then discuss whatever Emma had read as she completed the tomes. Jefferson did not believe that anything was out of Emma’s reach and had her reading philosophy, poetry, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, the list was ever expanding.

Aside from pursuing a form of higher education, Emma learned about Jefferson himself, he was an only child, and he had not always been a millionaire. He had inherited his fortune from an obscure uncle, who when he died, and having no children of his own, had favored Jefferson amongst his other relations to receive his estate. Jefferson, up until that point had been running his father’s millinery shop and was barely scraping by. But upon the receiving of his uncle’s fortune, made from good investments, Jefferson had sold his shop to one of his cousins, and then bought the house on Forrest Road intending to spend some time travelling the world before once more settling down in Storybrooke. However, it was at this time his health had taken a turn for the worse, so Jefferson had been forced to remain in his home indefinitely. He handed over control of the estate to his family, who assured him that everything would be taken care of. Since meeting Emma however, he had begun to reassert himself over his fortune, at least in a small way; enough that all the necessary repairs to the house were made. 

Jefferson too learned much about Emma, in turn. Emma was an orphan, she had been born in Storybrooke, and grew up there. She longed for adventure, to travel and see the world outside the small corner of Maine. But Emma had no desire to marry until she was sure she could support a child on her own if she had to, and even then only the most passionate of love affairs would ever convince her that it could be worth it. 

But still, despite the turning over of this new leaf, no other guests were ever invited over to the house. So Emma became the town’s sole connection inside, and she became a bit of a local celebrity because of it. She couldn’t go anywhere without someone coming up to her and interrogating her for details into Jefferson Dodgson. Emma answered the queries as best she could, without breaching Jefferson’s confidence, but it never quite seemed to be enough. 

There was however one thing Emma had noticed, that is that Jefferson was… odd. In a letter to Mary Margaret, Emma had described some of Jefferson’s many eccentrics; not the least of which being his aversion to leaving his house, which he had still only breached once to see Emma to her door. Jefferson was also prone to mood-swings, Emma thought; sometimes seeming quite amiable and happy one moment, and then filled with some sort of melancholy the next. He also suffered from violent muscle spasms every once in a while. He had once kicked the coffee table and sent his tea pot and all his fine china crashing onto the carpet with one particularly violent twitch of his leg. 

There was nothing about the situation that wasn’t highly irregular, but Emma found herself drawn back time and again. She truly did enjoy the time she spent with Jefferson, he took an interest in her when most of the people she interacted with were more concerned with what she could do for them. It was a refreshing experience to say the least. 

But one day she arrived for their afternoon visit, and Dr. Whale’s black carriage was standing outside. Emma let herself into the house, as was her custom, and she moved through the rooms searching for Jefferson.

“Mr. Dodgson?” she called. “Are you home?”

“Miss Swan…” A voice called from up the second level, and Emma moved to where she could see up the staircase. 

Jefferson stood on the landing, looking more haggard than usual; his shirt was rumpled, partially unbuttoned and untucked from the waist of his trousers. 

“Are you alright, Mr. Dodgson?” She asked, taking in his appearance with growing concern. 

“Everything’s fine, Miss Swan… Why don’t you come upstairs? Dr. Whale was just finishing his business with me. I promise, you won’t be scandalized.” 

Emma nodded, and climbed the stairs to follow Jefferson into a spacious bedroom. It was shadowy in the room despite the large windows; heavy curtains prevented light from penetrating the corners. When she entered a man stood from a settee that sat near the large four-poster bed which took up much of the middle of the room.

“Miss Swan, this is my physician, Doctor Victor Whale…” Jefferson introduced, and the doctor stepped forward to shake Emma’s hand. “Dr. Whale, this is Emma Swan.”

Emma smiled politely as she and the doctor exchanged pleasantries, but she began to feel increasingly uncomfortable as the two men began to settle back into their business. 

“I can come back later today, if I am interrupting here now…” Emma suggested, crossing her arms over her chest.

The two men stared at her for a moment, and then looked back at each other. 

“You haven’t told her yet, have you, Jefferson?” Dr. Whale stated more than asked.

Jefferson leaned forward from where he sat on the bed, and rubbed his hands over his face. 

“Miss Swan,” he began, “There are some things I haven’t told you… about myself. I’m sure you find it odd that my family has such control over my life. The reason for this is that when I inherited my uncle’s estate I was under review by Dr. Whale about whether or not I should be admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Boston. My family brought it up to the courts that they do not trust me not to mishandle the money. You see… medically speaking, I am quite mad. Dr. Whale has told me that the mercury from my former trade has affected my brain, and it sometimes causes periods of mental instability and… emotional unpredictability.”

From here Dr. Whale continued. “You may have noticed some slight muscular atrophy in Mr. Dodgson’s movements, or even some twitching, these are just some of the physical symptoms of Jefferson’s malady. The mercury also induces psychological effects. Mr. Dodgson has been in my care for the past five years, although technically I am employed by his family. But I am Jefferson’s doctor, and what’s more, his friend, we went to the same boarding school in Augusta. I assure you, I have Jefferson’s best interest at heart… and recently I feel that it has been threatened.”

Jefferson stood from the bed and walked towards Emma slowly. “My family have decided that I am unfit to care for myself any longer, and insist that I be institutionalized if I can’t find someone to care for me… Permanently.”

Emma’s brow furrowed. “How is that legal? Isn’t there something you can do, doctor? Can’t you tell his family that you feel he is safe on his own?”

Dr. Whale shrugged. “They ceased listening to my advice ages ago, and I strongly suspect they paid off the asylum to take him without question. But their conditions are clear, if Jefferson can find someone who knows about his condition, and who might be willing to live with him and care for him when his condition requires it, he will be allowed to remain in this house; living independently. Or more independently than he would be at the asylum. So I can do nothing more than I already have; you on the other hand, Miss Swan, might be able to do more…” 

Realization dawned on Emma and she turned to face Jefferson. “You want to ask me to come live here with you?” 

His eyes were hopeful, and he nodded. 

“I know it is a lot to ask of you, Miss Swan. You are already employed by the Darlings, and I know their children are fond of you… But I don’t have much time, and my list of friends is quite short. My cousins come tomorrow to collect me if I can’t find anyone to help.”

“I – I don’t know…” Emma frowned and thought to herself. She’d be leaving the children, but she’d also be leaving a home where she was unappreciated, and sooner or later the children would outgrow her position… and she’d be out looking for a job anyway. Wendy was almost fourteen… she’d be off to finishing school within the next year. 

Jefferson had come to kneel before her. “Emma.” He said softly and she looked into his bright blue eyes. “Your fate is in your own hands… You told me once that you wanted more than what you could be within the boundaries of Storybrooke. I do not wish to cage you. If you take this job, I will become dependent on you until I can learn to manage my condition, but the advantage is that we are already good friends. I will see to it that you are well taken care of. But… it will not be an easy job. You see me when I have my good days, my bad ones are… alarming, I have been told.”

“I would be happy to brief you on the nature of Jefferson’s illness, and how to properly deal with his… episodes.” Dr. Whale interjected.

Emma’s eyes flicked between the two men, Jefferson’s expression was a guarded blank, unwilling to get his hopes up over what was effectively his last chance for avoiding the mad house. Dr. Whale’s expression was of resigned sadness; he clearly did not believe that Emma would want to commit herself to the care of a man who was mentally unstable. 

Emma glanced around the room trying to make sense of everything that she was feeling in that moment so as to give Jefferson his answer. If she agreed she’d live here, in this house, with Jefferson. She would run his household. She would also be a nurse of sorts. She would be paid to take care of a friend. There was the possibility that she might lose that friendship in the process, should things become too much for her to handle, or if Jefferson began to treat her differently as his employee. But becoming a housekeeper would raise her social status, she’d go from domestic staff to a woman of independent means; making a living salary instead of time-based wages. She would also be in a position to embrace opportunities as they came to her. Should Jefferson decide to travel one day, Emma might be expected to go with him, or she might be asked merely to make sure the house was closed up properly and then be left to her own plans. Should he start a family, Emma could be comfortably employed until the day she retired. Even if he didn’t marry he would be required to find her a new position before terminating her employment. It was a risk… no matter what way Emma looked at it there was always the potential for the scenario to turn out extraordinarily badly… but this seemed to be balanced by the fact that this new position would open up a wider world to her. And if Jefferson was true to his word, she would not be caged by this house or this life… In her heart, despite the misgivings, Emma found that she wanted this.

“I’ll do it.” Emma said quickly, taking the leap before she could second guess herself anymore.

Jefferson blinked, as if he could hardly believe her answer, and a hesitant smile began to flicker over his face. 

“You will?” He asked, as if it were too good to be true.

“Yes. But we will have to ask your relatives for a grace period, in which time I will give the Darlings my notice. But yes, you are my friend, and you are offering me an opportunity that I will not get with my current employment…” 

“That is wonderful news!” said Dr. Whale and he grabbed Emma’s hand shaking it happily. Then turning to Jefferson and giving him a solid clap on the shoulder. Jefferson’s breath whooshed out of his lungs in a sigh of relief, and his face broke into a shy grin.

“Miss Swan, you cannot begin to imagine how much this means to me.” Jefferson said, still kneeling before her and taking her hands in his own. 

Emma smiled and shrugged. “The Darlings already have a housekeeper, and the children will soon outgrow their need for a nanny, it was a dead-end job.” 

To that Jefferson laughed, and Dr. Whale chuckled politely, clearly not understanding the humor.

Jefferson went down into the cellar and brought up a bottle of champagne for them to toast the good news. It was the first time Emma had ever had champagne and the bubbles tickled her nose pleasantly as she drank the sweet wine. Dr. Whale had seemed to relax in her presence as they drank and he shucked off his heavy coat and loosened the cuffs of his sleeves. Jefferson seemed happier than she had ever seen him before, and utterly relaxed amid the company of his two good friends. The bond of camaraderie strengthened between the three of them as they worked through the bottle of sparkling wine. They spoke and laughed together, Jefferson and Dr. Whale sharing stories with Emma about some of their more humorous appointments, and Jefferson sharing with Dr. Whale some of his memories of the time spent with Emma. 

In her mind, Emma began to plan out her new life in Jefferson’s house. Firstly, she would tear down all the oppressive drapes and let in a little light. She had no doubt that some of Jefferson’s lesser symptoms could be treated with a healthy dose of exercise and sunlight. Then she decided that they would need more staff than just herself to keep the house running, and she mentally made a check list of people she could interview for the positions. Soon the afternoon had wasted away and Dr. Whale was called away by his duties, but before he left he promised to send Emma some literature for her to study up on Jefferson’s affliction, and to provide her with some advice on how to see that he was properly cared for. 

After Dr. Whale had left, Jefferson asked Emma to stay for a little while longer and talk with him in private. They sat on the sofa in his parlor and Jefferson held out his hand, silently asking for hers. After hesitating for a beat Emma acquiesced and Jefferson ran his thumb across the back of her hand absentmindedly as he smiled to himself. 

“What is it?” Emma asked, curiously.

“There is nothing I will ever be able to do to repay this debt to you, Emma…” Jefferson replied, his voice soft. “Though I think I will spend the rest of my life trying… and I must confess, that is not an entirely unpleasant thought.”

Emma frowned at his sudden seriousness. “You are my friend, Mr. Dodgson… One of the few I have here in Storybrooke. I was given the opportunity to help you, and I would have chosen to do the same even if it didn’t mean a significant pay raise.”

“This is the second time you’ve saved my life, Miss Swan.” He said after a moment’s pause.

“What do you mean?” 

“Before we met, I had given up hope… I knew that I would die in this house, perhaps without ever encountering a single soul. Then you fell through my fence and you rekindled my interest in the world outside my door. You reminded me that the world is not nearly as terrifying as I had led myself to believe, and life is not nearly so boring as it once had been. Perhaps before I would have even welcomed having all responsibility taken away from me at the asylum, but now that I’ve tasted freedom again I see how precious it is. My family tried to take that away from me, and here you are again, saving my life…”

Emma felt her cheeks start to burn.

“You’re family sound like they don’t like you very much.”

Jefferson shook his head. “They’re not so bad as you might think, but they do have a very strict sense of what is right and what is wrong… They never agreed with my uncle’s decision to give the bulk of his fortune to me. They thought it would be better going to his living siblings, their own parents, rather than to the son of his disgraced and deceased brother. They are still a bit bitter over that, but there’s no real malice in it.”

Emma nodded and then smiled at him. “I am glad I could help, though.” She confessed. “I would miss this.”

Jefferson looked at her in surprise. “I would too.” 

Then he lifted the hand he still held in his own and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. Emma left Jefferson’s house feeling flustered. She had chastised him for his roguish smile when he’d noticed her blush as he’d helped her with her coat, but as she walked hurriedly down the street back towards the Darlings’ house, she tried to convince herself that her franticly beating heart was in response to the unusual heat of the day, and not the lingering memory of the laughter in Jefferson’s eyes. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two weeks later began Emma’s employment at 316 Forrest Road. It caused quite the scandal when the town got word: an unmarried young lady working as the housekeeper for a reclusive eligible bachelor? The gossip columns practically wrote themselves.

Jefferson had frowned when she showed up at his door the day she’d planned to move in with little more than a hat box and a carpet bag full of her belongings; but he didn’t  
comment and guided her through the house to the room he had thought could be hers. She was given a spacious room that overlooked the back gardens in the same wing as Jefferson’s bedroom. The space was dusty from years of disuse, but Emma had never had such a fine, or even such a large room all to herself before. She had been somewhat stunned with Jefferson’s choice, it even had its own en suite bathroom! Jefferson had chuckled as she stood in the center of the room, her mouth hanging open and eyes wide with shock. But then he’d asked her if the room suited her and she had grinned at him giddily, and asked somewhat fearfully if he was sure he wanted to give all of this to her. Jefferson had given her an odd look and confirmed with as much conviction as he could muster that he would gladly give Emma anything she desired in return for what she was doing for him, therefore the room was no sacrifice at all. Emma had slept that night in her new four-poster bed with her heart full to bursting with excitement. 

Her first course of action as Jefferson’s housekeeper, was to tidy the man himself. The morning after she moved in, she dug a straight-razor out of his bathroom and pressed it into his hand along with the rest of his unused shaving kit and asked him to at least trim his beard if not be rid of the thing altogether. Jefferson emerged from his toilette half an hour later with a sullen expression and numerous red nicks over his cheeks and jawline, but clean shaven. Emma then sat him down in the kitchen and took a pair of shears to his wild mop of hair, bringing it down to a respectable length. Though she was rather alarmed to discover that his hair seemed to have a mind of its own and the shorter locks refused to lie flat against his head. But when she stepped back to inspect her work, she found she liked the way his hair swept up into a small coif. But she had to laugh at the slightly violated expression on his face as he patiently waited for her to finish. 

All-in-all the transformation was amazing, Jefferson went from looking an undetermined age, back down to the twenty-five years he truly possessed. Dark shadows still hung under his eyes, and his clothes still sat loosely over his bones but Emma was certain that in a few months she would be able to help with that. What she refused to notice, perhaps not for the first time, was that her employer was a truly handsome man; a bit too skinny at the moment but his strong jaw line, cupid’s-bow lips, and clever eyes would have been enough to catch any ladies’ attention, and perhaps some lads’ as well… But she was his housekeeper now, so romantic thoughts like those were not to be entertained or ever acknowledged. Jefferson was a handsome man, that was plain to see, but it was nothing more than an observation on her part. 

The next order of business was that Emma took more members onto the household staff, seeing as the household only consisted of Jefferson and herself, not many servants would be required, but for a house as big as 316 Forrest Road some extra hands would be extremely welcome. Her friend from the finishing school, Ruby Lucas, had recently found herself unemployed due to a minor scandal involving the butcher’s son, and she was now unable to support her elderly grandmother. So Emma employed Ruby as a maid, and even her grandmother, Widow Lucas, as their cook. When the Storybrooke Mirror discovered this the gossip columns were once again overflowing with speculations. It would soon become a competition between Emma and Jefferson to see who could incite the largest scandal. When Doctor Whale had discovered the Emma had taken on more staff, or more accurately when he had discovered Ruby’s great beauty, his appointments with Jefferson became more and more frequent, and he lingered in the house much longer than he used to after concluding his business. 

The final staff Emma employed was a man she’d known from her childhood at the orphanage, Augustus Booth, who would be their handy-man, and Jefferson’s butler if the occasion called for it. Dr. Whale had specifically suggested that Emma employ a hale young man to be on call if Emma should ever need to restrain Jefferson for any reason. This suggestion had been somewhat startling to her, but she complied nonetheless. 316 Forrest Road needed a man to run the carriage house, and to maintain the chores that Emma and Ruby couldn’t do themselves. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was three weeks into her employment before Emma saw the first signs of Jefferson’s illness. She had begun to think that Dr. Whale and Jefferson’s family had conspired to keep him locked up and docile, but she discovered that she was mistaken. There was no exaggeration when it came to the upset that his condition could cause. 

She should have realized that there was something wrong when Jefferson did not appear downstairs for breakfast at 9 am, as was his custom. Emma knew that Jefferson was a creature of habit, and any deviation from this self-regulated routine would quickly become a warning sign that something was amiss. 

It was midday by the time Emma decided to go up and see if Jefferson was alright. His place was set out as usual at the head of the table, but his toast and hard-boiled egg had not been touched, and what’s more his tea had gone cold in the pot. Neither Ruby nor her grandmother had seen Jefferson that morning when Emma went into the kitchen to enquire. She thought that he would have called down for them if he was feeling under-the-weather but it really was odd that he was not here to read the morning papers and compare with Emma the latest ripples caused by their scandalous household.

His bedroom door was shut and locked when she made her way up to the second level of the house. She knocked gently on the door and called to him. 

“Mr. Dodgson?” she said. “Is everything alright? We missed you at breakfast this morning.”

When no reply came but a series of muffled thumps, perhaps bare feet on hard wood floors, Emma resorted to using the master key which Jefferson had given her to use in  
“extraordinary circumstances.”  
When she entered his bedroom, Emma stopped in her tracks at the scene before her. The room looked as if it had been torn apart; clothes which had most certainly been in their drawers and hanging in the closet the previous evening were now strewn haphazardly across the floor. The bed on the other hand did not look like anyone had slept in it for days. Jefferson himself stood in the centre of the room, bare-chested, but wearing trousers (thankfully) and a top hat (curiously). Emma and Jefferson stared at each other across the room, wide-eyed, and wild-eyed respectively, neither one moving for fear of spooking the other. They did not move from where shock had rooted them until Ruby came along a few moments later and jolted them out of their stupor with a rather shrill shriek of surprise. Emma jumped half out of her skin, and Jefferson took this opportunity to none-too gently push Emma out the door and lock it behind her once more, all without saying a word.

It took a well-brewed cup of tea and a call to Dr. Whale to calm Emma down after this incident. Dr. Whale calmly explained that this was likely an episode of Jefferson’s condition, and that it was now up to Emma to get him to calm down from whatever had agitated him, and back into a rational mind set. Dr. Whale also assured her that he would come by on the morrow, to check up on them all after this their first real trial.

Dr. Whale, and his associate Dr. Hopper, a specialist in mental cases, had been working with Jefferson to try and discover ways for him to manage his condition on his own. But progress was slow, and Jefferson’s family were not patient people. For now it was up to Emma to try and derail the cyclical thoughts and anxiety that frequently characterized these episodes. So once again she found herself gingerly unlocking Jefferson’s bedroom door and peering inside, hoping not to agitate him further. 

The curtains were drawn across the windows, leaving the room gloomy and stuffy. Jefferson was now sprawled across his bed, still shirtless much to Emma’s discomfort, with an arm draped over his face. Emma moved forward to sit by him on the edge of the bed.

“What’s happened, Mr. Dodgson?” she asked. “You seemed fine last night.” 

This seemed to be the wrong thing to say. “I always seem fine, Emma.” He said through clenched teeth.

Emma frowned, but ignored this. “You don’t seem fine now… Tell me about it?”

“You can’t help me, Emma.” He said and he moved onto his side, facing away from her and curling in on himself.

“I can’t cure you.” She corrected him. “But if I can’t help you then why am I here? I’m fairly certain helping you was the main reason you asked me to come here.”

“It was a mistake, I was a fool to think that anyone could help me… You should have just let them send me to the mad house.”

Emma grew angry now. “Jefferson, that’s horse-shit.”

This seemed to grab his attention and he turned so that he could glance over his shoulder at her. “Miss Swan, I do believe that’s the first time I’ve heard you swear… or use my first name. I’m not sure which one is more scandalous.” But the corner of his mouth was quirked into a strange smile.

Emma rolled her eyes at the burning of her cheeks, trying not to let on how flustered she was. “I apologize, sir. But really, Mr. Dodgson what is this about? If you tell me, maybe I can help, but I certainly can’t if you won’t talk to me.”

Jefferson sighed, and moved so that he was on his back again, and he stared up at the ceiling. 

“I want to go outside.” He said after a moment’s pause.

Emma balked. “Is that all!? Then why don’t you?”

Jefferson frowned at her, clearly upset by her reaction. “It isn’t that simple!” he insisted. 

Emma took a deep breath to calm herself, remembering what Dr. Whale had told her about being patient with Jefferson when he got like this. “Why not?” She asked.

Jefferson’s jaw stuck out at her like a petulant child and his brows furrowed deeply as he mulled over his answer. “No one will understand.” He began slowly, as if admitting this truth were hurting him. “People are cruel, Emma. They might be excited to meet me today, but tomorrow, or the next time? Eventually they will figure it out that I am… strange. Different. And when they do, they will realize that they don’t want me in their town, and they’ll send me away, lock me up, and throw away the key. That’s what they did to my father, and that’s what they’re going to do to me. That’s why I can’t leave this place, better it be a cage of my own making.”

“The town forced your father into a mental institution?” Emma was shocked.

But Jefferson shook his head. “No,” He admitted. “It was our family… but they said that there had been complaints…”

Emma frowned again, but steeled her nerves and in a presumptuous action took Jefferson’s hand in her own. “Come into town with me.” She said, softly.

Jefferson rolled his eyes, and tried to pull his hand away but Emma held fast.

“I mean it.” She said. “Granny needs me to go place an order at the general store, and then after that we can take a walk in the park and be home in time for tea. The fresh air and exercise will do you good, and I will make sure that nothing goes wrong.”

Jefferson was looking at her with his eyes wide, there was fear there but also a flicker of hope. It did not take much more coaxing than that to get Jefferson properly dressed and out the door. They did not talk about the incident in the morning until they were on their way home, packages in hand. 

“I didn’t really mind it before,” He said. “When you called me by my given name… When you called me, Jefferson.”

Emma couldn’t think of how to reply, but she wanted him to continue. “Oh?” was all she said, hoping she sounded encouraging.

“Mr. Dodgson, is so formal… and all it does is remind me of my father… My name is Jefferson after all, and no one uses it much these days, just Victor mostly. You could use it… if you like.”

Emma looked at him closely, but he was hiding his face in the shadows cast by the brim of his hat. 

She smiled. “Very well then, Mr. Dodgson, from now on I will address you by your given name… but, I would never deign to imply that we were equals by doing so…” She added, just to clarify and cover her tracks.

Jefferson stopped walking abruptly and turned to face her. 

“But we are.” He said. 

“Equals.” He clarified at her confused look. “Miss Swan, you and I are of no different social standing than the other. I simply was lucky enough to be in my uncle’s good graces when he died.”

Emma nodded and tried to hide her smile. “Then I insist that you call me Emma from now on if I am to be calling you, Jefferson.”

Jefferson’s lips quirked in a crooked smile, he put one foot forward and bowed his head. “Very well, Emma.”

Emma gave a mock-curtsey to match his mock-bow, “Very well, Jefferson.”

They finished the walk home, grinning at each other as if they shared a secret.

For a time, life was good at 316 Forrest Road. Jefferson’s illness did still take its toll, causing him frequent headaches, and bouts of insomnia. There were even the occasional violent rages that August was called deal with, but eventually Emma found she could do much to calm him with a gentle touch of her hand and a few minutes of kind words. It was the anxiety that was the hardest to break him of, sometimes Jefferson would not leave his room for days at a time for fear of what lay beyond the confines of his walls. Emma learned that in these circumstances it was best to just leave him be, and allow him to emerge of his own accord and be there for him when he needed it. But overall, Emma found that her life had improved dramatically since accepting work as Jefferson’s housekeeper. Jefferson was a kind employer, aside from being her friend. He made sure that his new staff wanted for nothing. His illness made him painfully shy, but at the urging of Emma and Dr. Whale, he did finally agree to open up his house for an evening to his neighbors. The evening had ended with Jefferson knocking over a tea trolley as he temporarily lost touch with reality to the battle with his daemons, but Emma covered it up as an accident. Despite her best efforts, it had been the talk of the Storybrooke Mirror; but the next time Jefferson sent round invitations for tea everyone still accepted, so they assumed no one had minded too much. 

Emma came to realize that Jefferson was like a shattered mirror still held together by its frame; broken, and dangerous should it ever fall apart completely, but also beautiful in its own way.

To be continued...


	3. Trangression

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ugh, stupid muse wouldn’t cooperate with the last few scenes of this chapter. Sorry for the wait, but it’s a nice long one so hopefully that makes up for it?

Act III

Summer in Storybrooke had always been the most pleasant time of year. The town’s proximity to the ocean kept the temperature firmly in on the comfortable side of warm, and Emma had always believed that she’d been born meant to live in a warmer climate, so she relished the summer time.

Over the past few months Jefferson had become a more familiar face around Storybrooke, and the townsfolk had indeed realized that there was something odd about the man. But they had eventually settled on the label of “eccentric” while unanimously agreeing that Emma had been a good influence on him. Jefferson was both relieved and amazed by the town’s acceptance.

Meanwhile Dr. Whale and Dr. Hopper had recently opened a small practice out of an office in downtown Storybrooke, so this had relieved Emma’s duties as Jefferson’s caretaker, as well as relieved some of the tension that had begun to spring up between them. Dealing with Jefferson’s illness was not an easy feat; it tested Emma’s patience and her resilience. But now that there were those who were truly capable of helping him just ten minutes down the road, Emma was being asked to endure far less of the worst of Jefferson’s condition. So things had returned to the close friendship that they had secured over the course of their acquaintance.

It was about this time that Emma finally met Jefferson’s infamous relatives.

It finally happened on a day like any other during one of Jefferson’s good periods. Emma sat out on the back patio reading aloud from their latest literary endeavor, while Jefferson sat with his eyes closed and basked in some much-needed sunlight. He had promised Ruby that he would start to teach her to play the piano that afternoon when she had finished with her chores, and Dr. Whale had been invited to come for dinner that evening.

Emma was reading a passage from the novel where the protagonist, a young cabin boy, had just been kidnapped by group of mutinous pirates, one of whom had posed as a simple cook to gain the boy’s trust and thereby get information from him about their straight-laced captain and the hiding place of a valuable treasure map.

Suddenly Ruby appeared in the glass door of the conservatory and cleared her throat politely to grab their attention away from the Scotsman Robert Louis Stevenson’s narrative, before reporting to Jefferson that there was a woman waiting to speak with him in his study.

Jefferson sat up from his reclined position and quickly glanced at Emma before asking:

“Did she give a name, Ruby?”

“She did, sir. She said her name was Regina Mills?”

Jefferson’s face blanched.

“Thank you, Ruby. Tell Mrs. Mills that I’ll be there presently.”

Ruby curtsied prettily before ducking out of the doorway. When Emma turned back to Jefferson he had his face buried in his hands and the lines of his body looked tense with stress.

“Jefferson?” Emma called softly. “What is it? Who is she?”

A shudder wracked Jefferson’s frame before he straightened up, dragging his hands down his face.

“I had hoped that she would give me a few more months before she got curious enough to pry… Come along, Emma.” he said standing. “It’s time for you to meet my demons.”

Emma stood outside the door listening as curt pleasantries were exchanged between Jefferson and the regal looking woman she’d spied in Jefferson’s study before he closed the door between them. Talk then turned to a business nature, the woman was apparently displeased with the liberties Jefferson had taken with his finances.

Emma had heard about Regina round the town. The woman, married to the town’s beloved old mayor, was rumored to be the true “power behind the throne.” Emma had never been in the woman’s path before but she’d heard Mrs. Darling speak of her in a hushed tone to her friends over tea. Apparently, Mrs. Mills was the force behind the very public disgrace of Belle, Emma’s friend from the finishing school, and her master-stroke-lover Mr. Gold. Mr. Gold also happened to be her husband’s sole political rival in town. The woman was a force to be reckoned with. If she were one of Jefferson’s mysterious relatives, suddenly all of Jefferson’s anxieties about upsetting them seemed to make sense.

The door to the study opened suddenly, and Jefferson’s face appeared in the doorway.

“Would you join us, Miss Swan?”

Emma’s eyes jumped up to Jefferson’s with the usage of her surname. His eyes were intense on hers, pleading with her for discretion.

“Yes, Mr. Dodgeson.” She replied with a curt nod, to show that she understood they were not to be so familiar with one another so long as Mrs. Mills was within earshot.

Emma entered the room and came face-to-face with the woman in question. She was of a similar stature to Emma, but where Emma was fair, Mrs. Mills was dark; with hair black as a raven’s wing and eyes so deep a shade of brown her pupils were almost indistinguishable. She was very beautiful, and easily twenty years her husband’s junior. She dressed in rich looking clothing and heavy ruby earrings hung from her ears. But for all her beauty, her expression was cold, and it made Emma feel very small.

“Mrs. Mills.” Emma greeted her with the best curtsey she could muster.

“So you are the Miss Swan I’ve heard so much about from my dear cousin? I expected someone taller…” The woman’s voice was dripping with disdain.

Emma’s eyes flicked over to Jefferson, who subtly shook his head at her.

“Was there something you wanted from me, Mrs. Mills? I have many chores that need seeing to, and there are only so many hours in the day.” Emma said, adopting a polite but forceful tone that would brook no foolishness.

“There was, I had hoped to become better acquainted with my cousin’s keeper. Send for a pot of tea, would you Jefferson?”

Jefferson moved stiffly to the complex call-system that had been wired throughout the principal rooms of the house down into the kitchens and servant’s quarters when the telephone wires had been installed. It was a useful system to have when entertaining or in the event of one of Jefferson’s episodes.

“Mrs. Lucas?” Jefferson said, his voice obviously strained from the stress of his cousin’s presence. “Could you have Ruby bring up a tray of tea for three? Thank you.”

“Thank you, Jefferson.” Mrs. Mills said, then settled into the chair behind Jefferson’s desk, as Jefferson and Emma took the seats in front, as if Regina were the owner of the house and not Jefferson.

“Now then Miss Swan, I understand that you’ve been acting as Jefferson’s housekeeper for the past few months now?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And how are you finding that?”

Emma glanced sideways at Jefferson in askance, but Regina interrupted before Jefferson could speak.

“I asked _you_ , Miss Swan. Do not look to Jefferson for your answers. It is not my cousin’s opinions I wish to learn.”

“I – The work suits me well, I suppose.” Emma stammered, suddenly put off balance by Regina’s abrupt mood shift.

“You _suppose_? You don’t _know_?”

“Um, well… I – “

“Don’t stutter, it’s not ladylike. Really Jefferson, where _did_ you find this girl?”

Jefferson snorted in amusement. “She _literally_ fell through my fence, dear cousin…”

Regina stared at Jefferson suspiciously as if testing how truthful his statement was. But Emma’s hackles had started to rise and her temper to flare. She clenched her fists around the fabric of her skirt.

“To tell the truth ma’am,” Emma said, “this is the best job I’ve had since leaving finishing school. And I stutter because I was caught off guard for this degree of interrogation. Now that I see how direct you intend to be, I’m sure you’ll find me well prepared to spar…”

Jefferson made a sound that could have been choking or strangled laughter. Both women gave him a sharp look and he covered his mouth with one hand and put on a dramatic fit of coughing in an attempt to cover his amusement. When Regina turned her attention back to Emma, the dark-haired woman had one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised in an expression that read as disgust.

“Very well, Miss Swan.” She began again. “What experience did you have before coming to work for my cousin?”

“I received my education here in Storybrooke, at Our Lady of Miraculous Mysteries Finishing School for Girls. After completing my training I went to work for the Darlings down the road from here. I served as a governess to their three children for two years, at which time their eldest, Wendy, was ready to attend finishing school herself, and the two younger boys had also outgrown my services. It was about that time that I befriended Mr. Dodgeson by happy coincidence, and he offered me work a few months later when your family insisted upon his care and threatened him with the mad house if this was not seen to. I was only too happy to accept.”

“So you have no formal training as a housekeeper, then?”

“Quite the contrary, I think.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. After chasing the Darling children around all day for two years, I find looking after one grown man quite relaxing.”

Jefferson was fighting not to smile again and Emma was wearing the most non-threatening expression she could muster in her victory as Regina seethed at her.

Ruby broke the tense silence by pushing the tea trolley into the room and beginning to fix their cups. She first handed one of the fine china tea cups to Regina (milk, no sugar). Then to Emma, (just a slice of lemon, thank you) and finally to Jefferson (milk and sugar).

“Thank you, Ruby.” Jefferson said as she handed him his cup.

“Will there be anything else, Jefferson?” Ruby asked.

“No, that’s all for now.”

Ruby turned to leave again, eager to be free of this obviously tense atmosphere.

“Tell me, Ruby was it? Are you always so rude to your betters?” Regina asked, stopping Ruby in her tracks.

Ruby’s eyes flicked between the three of them in panic. Emma froze with her cup half-way to her lips and saw Jefferson’s eyes slid shut in pained sympathy.

“I beg your pardon?” Ruby asked, clearly terrified.

“You addressed my cousin by his Christian name. Is that a frequent occurrence in this household?”

Ruby’s eyes went wide as saucers. “No, ma’am.” She lied, but neither Jefferson nor Emma were going to correct her.

“You should have her whipped.” Regina suggested turning back to her tea. “That’s the only way to weed out such insolence.”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right!” Jefferson cried, leaping out of his seat. He crossed the room and took Ruby firmly by the elbow, leading her to the doorway. “Ruby, you’re to go to the kitchens and stay there, until I send for you; understood?”

“Yes, Jeff – Mr. Dodgeson. I understand.” Ruby whispered, her eyes already brimming with terrified tears.

“There’s a good girl.” Jefferson whispered closing the door behind her.

“Really Jefferson, I thought you knew better.” Regina said as Jefferson returned to his seat. “You give them an inch and they’ll take a mile! Do you want to be robbed blind while you sleep?”

Emma searched Jefferson’s face for confirmation that he wouldn’t really beat her friend. They kept a casual household, yes, but it was Emma’s fault if anyone’s for allowing herself to address their employer thus. Fortunately, there was no anger or malice in Jefferson’s eyes, just a bone-deep weariness that Emma was coming to associate with his dealings with family.

“Was that entirely necessary, Regina?” Jefferson asked, dropping gracelessly back into his seat and slouching there, glaring at his cousin. “You scared the poor girl half to death…”

Regina replied with a tight-lipped smile. “Perfectly necessary, if you refuse to do it yourself.”

Jefferson’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Wasn’t that long ago you weren’t any better off than her.”

“Yes, well…” Regina said. “Back to the matter at hand. Miss Swan, tell me, have you noticed anything strange or off about my cousin’s behavior?”

“Nothing in particular.” Emma replied without thinking.

“Oh? Excuse me if I find that rather hard to believe.”

“Ah – what I meant to say was that he has his episodes, but on a whole they are manageable. They don’t seriously inhibit our lives here.”

“So you lied.”

“Well, I – I didn’t mean to.” Emma finished lamely.

Jefferson shifted in his seat so that his foot came to rest beside hers on the carpet, offering her what comfort he could with his cousin interrogating them not three feet away.

Regina sighed. “I suppose that satisfies my curiosity here. Jefferson, I’m leaving.”

Regina stood, and Jefferson and Emma followed suit. Bidding her cousin goodbye with a brief handshake and a kiss on the cheek, and then casting one final dismissive glance at Emma the woman left the house as abruptly as she had arrived.

“I’m sorry, Emma.” Jefferson said when Regina had finally gone. “I wish I could have spared you from all that.”

“It’s not your fault, Jefferson…” Emma replied. “How did she get like that?”

Jefferson dragged his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know, as a child she was always smiling and as kind a person as you could hope to meet but… after her first fiancée died, something in her hardened. Money is all that appeals to her now, and power over others. Sadly, she is my next-of-kin and therefore has legal control over my inheritance. Not enough to take it for her own, but enough to limit my access to it.”

“I’m sorry, Jefferson.” Emma said softly, placing her hand on his arm and squeezing gently.

Jefferson moved to take her hand in his, and squeezed back, smiling softly at her. “It’s not your fault.” He echoed. “Come, we should go check on Ruby. I think the poor girl is traumatized.”

Ruby was indeed hysterical when Emma and Jefferson entered the kitchens. She sat on the floor, sobbing into her grandmother’s skirts who crouched over her protectively. One look into Widow Lucas’ eyes told them that Ruby had divulged exactly what Mrs. Mills had suggested they do to punish her.

Jefferson knelt on the ground next to Ruby and lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. The girl flinched away from the contact.

“It’s alright, Ruby.” He shushed her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

With that truth, Ruby flung herself into Jefferson’s arms and started sobbing all over again.

“I didn’t mean to, Mr. Dodgeson!” she cried through her tears, “I’m sorry!”

Jefferson wrapped his arms around her and stroked his fingers through her hair soothingly. “Ruby, you’ve done nothing wrong. Regina is just… she doesn’t understand how other people feel…”

“She’s _horrid_!” Ruby spat, her fear suddenly turning to rage.

“I know.” Jefferson said, still stroking her hair. “But it’s alright. She’s gone now. We’ll just have to be more careful when she comes back.”

“She’ll be coming back then?” Widow Lucas spoke up from her chair.

Jefferson didn’t reply, just met Emma’s eyes sadly, who took the cue to speak for him.

“She’s the one who has control over Jefferson’s estate. We won’t be rid of her until the lawyers say he doesn’t need a legal guardian.”

It was at that moment that Dr. Whale entered the room to the sight of Jefferson holding an inconsolable Ruby at Widow Lucas’ feet while Emma looked on from the corner.

“Am I interrupting something?” He asked, one eyebrow quirked at the scene.

“Dr. Whale!” Ruby exclaimed and shot to her feet quickly hiding her face and drying her tears with her apron.

“Regina came for a visit.” Jefferson said, by way of explanation.

Dr. Whale’s face immediately hardened into a frown.

“And what did she do to Miss Lucas?”

“Nothing!” Ruby spun around, her eyes still glassy and her nose red from crying, but otherwise fully put back together.

“She threatened Ruby with a whipping!” Widow Lucas declared indignantly from her chair.

“Ah,” Victor nodded as if this explained everything. “Mrs. Mills can be a frightening woman when she puts her mind to it.”

Emma supposed that maybe Dr. Whale would know a bit about Regina being intimidating. He had had to face off against her in the legal courts more than once on Jefferson’s behalf.

Dinner passed without much more incident. In fact, Emma felt that Dr. Whale did much to return the house to normal again. He sat with Ruby for a while after the meal to listen to her demonstrate what little musical talent she had gained since Jefferson had begun to teach her to play, and he spoke privately to Jefferson before leaving. As she saw him to the door, Dr. Whale even checked with Emma that she felt all was well before departing. And as Emma readied herself for bed that night, she did feel think that things would be alright. But sometime just before dawn blood-curdling screams and yells of real pain echoed throughout the halls violently ripping Emma from her sleep. Emma was up and out of bed, tearing down the hallway before she could properly pull on a robe over her nightgown.

The yells this night were loud enough to wake the rest of the house as well, and Widow Lucas, Ruby and August all stood in the hallway outside of Jefferson’s bedroom, waiting for her by the time she arrived.

“Do you want my help, Miss Swan?” August offered as Emma fumbled with her key.

“No, August, I don’t think that will be necessary. But I’ll send for you if I do.” Emma replied before slipping through the door.

Jefferson’s cries had subsided into thrashing and whimpering as he fought the grip of the nightmare. Emma set her candle down on the night table, and sat on the edge of the bed, biting her lip as she pondered the best way to wake Jefferson. His face and neck were shiny with sweat, and a deep furrow had formed between his brows from distress. His head tossed from side-to-side as his feet kicked wildly tangling themselves in the sheets ever more firmly. Emma tentatively reached out and smoothed her hand over his forehead eventually carding through his hair soothingly.

“Jefferson.” She called, softly. “It’s a dream. It’s just a dream. Wake up. You’re alright. Everything is alright.”

Jefferson’s frown deepened before his eyes opened slowly. He stared blindly into the darkness for a moment but eventually came back to himself and he became aware of her presence. Her hand was still stroking across his temple.

“Emma.” He sighed when his eyes focused on her, and she smiled at him.

Suddenly, he sat up and crushed her to him in a desperate embrace.

“I dreamt you’d gone.” He whispered into her hair. “I dreamt that Regina took you away from me.”

“I’m here.” Was all she could think to say, but it seemed to break him and a silent sob shook his whole body and hers.

“Promise you won’t leave me, Emma.” He cried. “You are the best thing that’s happened to me in many years, and I can’t lose you. I feel that I am only half of my self without you.”

Emma swallowed thickly, emotion causing her eyes to start to burn.

“I promise, I won’t leave you until you wish it.” She said eventually, and that made Jefferson only clutch her harder.

A few moments passed like this, but eventually Emma realized she needed to tell the others, still probably standing in the hallway waiting for news, that they could go back to bed. But as she moved to stand, Jefferson’s hand clutched at her nightgown.

“Stay with me tonight?” He begged, and the pain in his eyes broke Emma’s heart. Regina had clearly affected Jefferson more than he’d let on to the others.

“I will.” She promised. “But I need to let the others know that you’re alright.”

He nodded and let her go to the door to do just that. When she returned to the bed, he had corrected the tangled sheets and had shuffled to make room for her to lie down. Emma sat awkwardly with her back leaning against the solid wooden headboard.

Jefferson gave a small smile of amusement. “You can’t sleep like that,” he said, “Please, lie down. There’s plenty of room for the both of us.”

Emma moved so that she lay on her side facing Jefferson, with one arm supporting her head under the pillow. Jefferson moved to mirror her position and they lay there staring at each other and simply breathing for a few moments in the darkness.

Eventually Jefferson reached one hand towards her tentatively, and stopped a few inches from her face.

“May I?” He asked, and Emma nodded in reply, her heart so far up in her throat that she couldn’t speak.

Jefferson’s hand descended to cup her face and after a moment began to rub his thumb across the apple of her cheek.

“I am a cowardly man, Emma.” He said, breaking the peaceful silence that had descended between them.

“How’s that?” She whispered, the corner of her mouth tipped up into a small smile.

“You are too bright a creature to be stuck here tending to an ill man’s needs. You deserve the world, and yet I am too afraid to let you go and take it. Losing you would break me, my body might physically survive but I fear I would lose my mind forever.”

Emma gave him a look. “That’s poetic nonsense.”

Jefferson snorted in amusement. “Perhaps. But you at least bring that out in me. And to an extent I am deathly serious. I believe that to let you leave here would be to do my heart grievous injury. But I was not lying when I said that I think you deserve the world. You are a beautiful woman, Miss Swan, in every way imaginable. Women like you should be courted by princes and nothing less.”

Emma blinked at him, unsure of how to take these confessions but not wanting him to stop.

She decided to reply with a confession of her own. “Could you not be one of those princes?”

Jefferson’s face fell, and Emma’s heart with it. “I would, that I could. But I am not my own man; and though I’ve never been overly concerned with propriety, as you know; my family would never allow it… They’d lock me away in the mad house, or else I’d risk it. Were it not for that… I would give away my entire fortune to be the man that could make you happy.”

Emma reached up and pushed her fingers through his hair, mirroring the hand Jefferson still had on her cheek.

“We could pretend, for tonight at least?” She asked.

Jefferson stared at her for a long moment, searching her face for something she could not guess. But he nodded eventually and leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. Emma shifted so that she lay on her back, and Jefferson curled close to her body, laying his head on her chest and tangling their legs together so that they both cradled each other; leaving a feeling of mutual and simultaneous fulfilling of the role of both protector and protected. Emma’s hands sank into his hair to play with the soft strands and Jefferson took in a shaky breath which he exhaled in a sigh, leaving his whole body trembling and then gradually relaxing by degrees.

“It’s alright.” Emma whispered again. “I’m here.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Summer came and went and soon Christmas was once again come for the season. Emma had been employed by Jefferson for six months, and the whole household was looking forward to the holiday joy. Ruby was enthusiastically trying to convince Emma to take Jefferson out to the Storybrooke Lights festival, claiming that it would be good for him to get out of the house; a common excuse she used when she wanted the night off herself. Jefferson protested that notion in the easy banter the two had settled into over the course of their acquaintance with each other, with Jefferson and Ruby making equally dramatic faces at each other until Widow Lucas gave Ruby a stern look and chastised her for agitating Mr. Dodgson so. However, Widow Lucas followed that statement up with a glowing review of the Lights Festival to Jefferson and a pointed look at Emma. Jefferson had conceded when Ruby had pointed out that Jefferson had been feeling restless lately, and this might be a good way to settle his demons before they erupted into something much larger. Emma had no choice but to roll her eyes and go dig through the closets to find out if Jefferson even _had_ any winter clothes.

A few hours later Emma and Jefferson were chatting and laughing amicably to each other as they walked slowly towards the town square. Emma was dressed in a warm fur-lined coat with a matching muff, and Jefferson wore a thick wool coat, and an elegant top hat. Ruby had pinned Emma’s hair up in an elegant style she had seen in a ladies’ fashion catalogue to make the night feel special. Ruby herself, practically bounced down the road in front of them wearing her patent red coat with the wide hood. Emma wondered if Ruby’s excitement had anything to do with Dr. Whale’s loud proclamation that he would be attending the light festival on this very night before leaving the house during his last appointment.

The air outside was dry and cold, and a few inches of freshly fallen snow turned Storybrooke into a picture, all in all it was the perfect night for such activities. Wooden stalls had been set up on the town green all arranged around the bandstand, and an artificial ice pond for skating. A choir from the local parish was singing Christmas carols, as people milled around purchasing gifts for each other or drinking mulled wine and hot chocolate while they strolled. Jefferson bought Emma a cupful of the spiced wine and they walked over to the pond to watch the skaters circle round and round on the ice, trying not to fall. Ruby had disappeared into the crowd almost as soon as they had arrived, and Emma could tell Jefferson was secretly relieved to be free of her enthusiasm for a while.

Though the people of Storybrooke knew who Jefferson was and were always excited to see him, they left the pair in relative peace. Only a few excited whispers, and haughty tutts alerted them to the fact that they were being watched.

“We’ll be in the papers again, for sure.” Jefferson said, under his breath. “The new town scandal: Eccentric millionaire takes his staff out to holiday event.”

Jefferson pulled a face of distaste and Emma giggled.

“You joke but I think I saw Sidney Glass over there talking to his editor…” She replied, wryly.

“Jefferson! Emma!” A familiar voice called out, drawing their attention away from the struggling skaters.

“So glad to see you out of the house, Jefferson. And Emma; always a pleasure.” Dr. Whale said with a wide grin on his face. Though his eyes were scanning the crowds around them.

“Miss Lucas was just looking for you. I think she wandered off near the punch bowl, she might be glad of an escort this evening.” Jefferson replied with a smirk on his face, and Emma giggled discreetly into her mug of wine.

Victor turned to face them again and tugged at his waistcoat. “Yes, well… It would be irresponsible of me to leave her unattended. Who knows what ruffians might take advantage of the poor girl…”

Emma laughed again, but called after him as he began to walk away. “Ask her to go skating, Dr. Whale! Ruby does love such activities.”

With a stiff nod Victor disappeared once more into the crowd, leaving Emma and Jefferson to their own devices.

“Are you enjoying yourself then?” Emma asked as Jefferson returned from procuring them a second mug of the hot wine about a half hour later.

“Surprisingly, I am.” He replied. “Though I must admit your company does make any activity more enjoyable.”

Emma blushed and giggled prettily, the combination of the wine and cold weather making her cheeks rosy. “By all rights you should be sick of the sight of me!” She cried. “We spend nearly every waking moment together.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Jefferson replied, his gaze dropping momentarily to her lips.

Emma quickly hid her face in her mug to cover the silly grin and the still deeper blush that his words had brought to her face.

“Mr. Dodgeson.” A voice called out, breaking the pair out of their reverie and bringing their attention to a stranger standing before them in a well-tailored suit.

“A pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Dodgeson.” The man extended his hand, though his eyes remained fixed upon Emma. “My name is Mr. Gold, your uncle and I were business partners, and I have heard much about you.”

Emma’s mind reeled at the man’s introduction. This was Mr. Gold? Her friend, Belle, had gone to work for this man, and eventually fallen in love with him causing Storybrooke’s biggest scandal before Jefferson’s eccentrics hit the Storybrooke Mirror. It had ended badly for all parties involved. A disgraced Belle had been chased out of town, and word was she was now living with a relative in Boston.

“Forgive me, sir, if I don’t know much about you.” Jefferson replied, extending a hand to shake, and stepped slightly in front of Emma to shield her from Gold’s piercing gaze.

“Not at all.” Gold said with a smirk. “I just wanted to introduce myself to you properly, and to offer my services to you should you ever find need of them.”

“And what services would those be?”

“I used to be in the textile industry, like your uncle, but since my investments came into their own I have found that I have a talent for the law, and the manipulation of it.”

Gold reached into his breast pocket and handed Jefferson a business card.

“Think about it.” He said, clasping Jefferson’s hand and leaning forward into his space. Then he turned his eyes on Emma once more. “For _any_ reason…”

He was gone about as abruptly as he appeared leaving Jefferson and Emma blinking after him.

“What an odd man.” Emma said.

“If he was acquainted with my uncle than he’s also a very smart man… But I’m curious as to what he could possibly want from me, or you for that matter.”

Emma shuddered remembering his strange gaze.

“What’s wrong?” Jefferson asked, gently gripping her elbow with a gloved hand.

“Nothing.” Emma said, shaking her head. “I’m just cold.”

Jefferson nodded. “Shall we head home then? I find I am suddenly quite tired, myself.”

Emma felt a fleeting longing to stay, but the thought of a warm cup of tea by the fireplace in their parlor sounded irresistibly inviting.

They bid farewell to Ruby as they left, who was laughing merrily as she tried to teach Dr. Whale to ice skate. Dr. Whale, in between the flailing of arms and a stumble or two, promised to escort Ruby home safely before midnight.

As they walked their strange encounter with Mr. Gold was soon forgotten and Jefferson began to hum a tune that they had heard played by the quartet on the bandstand, eventually sweeping Emma into an impromptu waltz down the street towards their home. Emma laughed as they danced, knowing that this carefree behavior could be mostly attributed to the wine they’d drank, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care all that much. Jefferson was smiling and more vibrant than she’d seen him in a long time, at least since his vile relative Regina’s visit. They waltzed all the way up the street and only stopped when they reached their front door, where Jefferson dipped down into a flourishing bow, and Emma answered with her very best curtsey. When they straightened Emma found they were only inches apart and that Jefferson was staring at her lips again, she licked them unconsciously and leaned forward just slightly. Jefferson mirrored her movements and one hand came up to brush a stray curl from her eyes.

“Emma.” He breathed, and then closed the distance between them.

His lips were chapped slightly, and they still tasted of the wine but the kiss still sent shocks of pleasant sensation running down from Emma’s lips to the tips of her toes and back again. It was a gentle kiss at first, but after a moment Jefferson wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer to him thereby deepening the kiss. Emma’s hand lifted to steady herself by gripping his neck gently and suddenly Jefferson jerked as if she’d struck him.

He let her go abruptly and Emma was left reeling, confused as to why that glorious kiss had ended.

“Miss Swan, I apologize!” Jefferson gasped out, looking at her with panicked eyes.

“Whatever for?” Emma laughed.

Her laughter seemed to confuse him. “I – I took advantage of you, and I apologize that was wrong of me.”

“Jefferson, what on earth are you talking about?”

“You are not offended by my desire for you?”

Emma did laugh at that. “Mr. Dodgeson, you silly man!” She said stepping forward to take his face between her hands once more.

“How could I be offended by your desire, when you do not seem to be offended by mine?”

Jefferson’s smile began to return to his face once more as a realization dawned on him.

“You love me.”

Emma grinned at him. “Yes!” She breathed, made bold by the wine.

“You love me?” Jefferson asked as if he could scarcely believe it.

“ _Terribly_.” Emma said and they both laughed at that.

“Then be my wife.”

Emma’s heart stopped. “ _What_?”

“Marry me.” He repeated.

Emma began to shake her head and pull away but Jefferson held her fast.

“Sir, that’s not kind.” She said.

“Emma, what’s wrong? I am being perfectly serious.”

“But you are forgetting your _family_. They would never allow you to marry _me_!”

Jefferson shook his head. “Emma, forget them.”

“How can I?”

“They don’t have to know.”

“They’ll find out eventually!”

“Then they’ll find out too late… Emma, I love you. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you by my side. I want to be the man to give you everything you want, because that is what you deserve, and the best way for me to do that is with you as my wife. Please, say you will… The power is all in your hands, deny me now and I promise I will never bring it up again, but if you say yes, you will make me the happiest man in all the world. I await my fate, my beautiful judge, jury, and executioner…”

Emma stared at him, tears in her eyes and love bursting out of her heart in the form of a laugh. She nodded at him. “Yes.” She said.

“Yes?” His eyes so full of hope and relief and disbelief that she kissed him again just to reassure him.

“A thousand times, _yes_.” She whispered in his ear, and he lifted her with a whooping yell and spun her round the porch in a celebratory embrace.

“What on earth is going on out here?” Widow Lucas said as she peered out the door to inspect the racket being made on the front porch, only to find her employer and his housekeeper locked in a passionate kiss.

“Mrs. Lucas.” Jefferson said finally pulling away from Emma. “Would you be so kind as to bring out a good bottle of port in celebration; you see, Emma Swan has agreed to marry me.”

Widow Lucas immediately gave a cry of joy and pressed one hand to her breast.

“How wonderful!” She cried, and then hugged and kissed them both.

The bottle of port was opened and glasses were passed around between the three of them until Ruby and Dr. Whale returned from the festival at which time the celebration began anew.

It was very late at night, or otherwise very early in the morning by the time that everyone went to bed; with Victor put up in a guest room, and Ruby and Widow Lucas retired to their quarters, Emma and Jefferson slipped into bed together for the first time as fiancées. And as they held one another, and whispered to each other in the dark, Emma thought that she couldn’t remember ever having been happier. Life had dealt her a strange hand, but it seemed that she had been allowed to find everything she had ever wanted in this strange little family they had made in this house, and soon they might be able to add to that family with children and friends.

“You look so peaceful, just now.” Jefferson said, quietly. “What are you thinking about?”

Emma smiled. “I was thinking about how I am going to make an honest man out of you Jefferson Dodgeson.”

Jefferson smiled in reply, before drawing her close and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “And I couldn’t be happier to be made honest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Originally the plan was just to leave it there, but I think there’s room for one more chapter, and just a bit more drama before I can let Jefferson and Emma have their happy ending. Mwahaha.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it! Please leave constructive criticism if you’ve got any! The encouragement seriously does help keep the muse tethered!


	4. Interlude

Act IV

 

Emma jumped down from the farmer’s cart and thanked the driver for bringing her this far from the center of the small town. She had been travelling for two days from Storybrooke; guilt and fear nipping at her heels, chasing her all the way to Boston and then to this tiny, sleepy town at the city’s outskirts.  Emma could think of no other place to go. The town resembled Storybrooke in many ways: it was populated by gossiping, excitable people who congregated on a bustling main street and public green by day and lived surrounded by quaint pastureland and farms. There was also a district of the town that held the more grand and stately homes wherein women of Emma’s particular caste of society frequently found employment. Indeed, it was very much like Storybrooke, but it lacked the few things that had made Storybrooke home…

As the cart she’d ridden on resumed its trundle down the road, Emma walked the worn country path off of the gravelly main road and eventually found herself standing on the porch of a small farmhouse surrounded by a few acres of planting fields and apple orchards. It was just coming to the tail end of winter, and the ground was still dotted with patches of ice and slush that refused to melt and marred the landscape like the pox. Dead yellow grass could be seen where the snow had already melted away, and the trees were still barren of leaves and buds. There would likely be one more deep frost before the winter gave New England up to spring, and Emma knew that she was lucky to have dodged any bad weather during her travels.

She rapped on the door sharply, and chewed on her lip, praying that she had the right address. Much to Emma’s relief, it was Mary Margaret who opened the door.

“Emma!” The dark-haired woman cried when she recovered from the momentary shock of her oldest friend appearing suddenly on her door-step. “I was just about to write to you and see if you could get some time to come visit me!”

But Emma could not hold her emotions back any longer. Mary Margaret was as close to family as Emma had ever had, and the last few weeks had been so _brutal_ …

Emma began to weep in deep, soul-wrenching sobs that brought her to her knees right there on Mary Margaret’s front porch.

“Oh my goodness!” Mary Margaret exclaimed, bending to pull Emma into an embrace. “Emma, what’s happened?”

“It’s wrong… it’s all gone wrong.” Emma managed to say between gasps for breath.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ten Days Earlier

 

They came for him a month before the wedding; with a knock at the door and a sudden and invasive intrusion into their lives.

Emma and Jefferson had been taking tea in the living room with Dr. Whale, when a series of loud shouts came from the hallway and Ruby was knocked to the side as six burly men shouldered their way through the front door, followed closely by none other than Regina Mills.

Jefferson leapt to his feet at Ruby’s cry of alarm and his face darkened to a scowl when his antagonizing cousin stepped through the door. Emma looked to Dr. Whale in confusion, but Victor’s attention was fully directed to the men that flanked Regina on either side.

“Hello, cousin.” Regina began with a voice like honey. “So sorry, to interrupt. You are, no doubt, arranging your nuptials. My deepest and most sincere apologies to the bride-to-be,” With this she gave a mocking nod of her head towards Emma, “but they must be postponed for the moment…”

Jefferson glared at his cousin. “What the devil does that mean?” He snarled.

“Jefferson, these gentlemen are here to deliver you to the Maine Insane Asylum, in Augusta. After notifying the courts of your impending nuptials, as is my legal duty as your next-of-kin and legal-guardian, a judge has determined that Miss Swan and Dr. Whale are clearly unable to provide you with the care you need in your fragile state; you are therefore a danger to yourself as well as to this community. Your accounts and properties must henceforth be seized by the state, but I persuaded the judge that they should be transferred to me instead... Don’t worry Jefferson, I will make sure that everything is taken care of.”

With that, the room exploded in an uproar. Dr. Whale was railing against the men in the room that the courts could not supersede his medical opinion; given that he was Jefferson’s primary physician and that they could not so abruptly tear him from Victor’s care. Emma was hurling threats at Regina and two of the men were restraining her from following Jefferson as he was dragged from the room by the other four. Jefferson himself was pleading with Regina to give him another chance, but evidently she heard none of it, standing in the center of the room with a smirk of imperious satisfaction curling her lips.

When Jefferson had finally been dragged away, Emma crumpled to the floor in defeat. Victor immediately rushed to her side to see if she was alright and Regina stood over them in feigned concern.

“Emma, be a dear and call the other staff to the room, won’t you?” Regina said ever so sweetly when it had been determined that Emma had not swooned from the shock but was rather simply too overwrought with emotion to stand.

Emma already felt as if the rug had been pulled out from under her, but she did as she was bade. Asking for August, Ruby and Mrs. Lucas to come into the parlor via the house’s communication systems. Once assembled, the group waited for Regina to say what she meant to.

“Given that your employer, Mr. Dodgson, has now been taken into state custody, care of his estate and everything in it falls to me. As such, it is my duty to inform you all that all contracts between you and Jefferson are null and void, your services no longer required, and you are all, therefore, unemployed. Except for you, of course, Dr. Whale. Please vacate the premises by the end of the week, or I shall have the constabulary evict you. That is all, I will see myself to the door.”

Regina turned to leave, but Emma found her voice once more.

“You can’t do this. _I_ won’t let you get away with it!” Her voice trembled, but with fury not with weakness.

“I believe I just did, my dear.” Regina said with a wicked smile, then she waltzed out of the house as quickly as she’d arrived; a habit of hers it seemed.

After a few moments of stunned silence Ruby was the first to speak.

“What are we going to do now, Emma?”

But Emma didn’t reply, she couldn’t. What was there to say? Emma was a woman with no family, no connections, no resources… There was nothing she _could_ do.

“Don’t worry, Miss Lucas.” Dr. Whale spoke instead, placing his hands on both of her shoulders, comfortingly. “We will make this right.”

But as Emma had first surmised there was nothing to be done. Regina had paid off all the judges and lawyers, making her case air-tight. Jefferson was gone, he wasn’t even allowed visitors. Regina even reported Jefferson’s scandalous engagement and shameful institutionalization to the newspapers, claiming that the madman, taking leave of his senses had been manipulated into marrying his housekeeper. So the next time Emma stepped out of the house the looks she got were not the usual glances of curiosity that she and Jefferson had almost relished, and the chatter that followed in her wake was not the tittering gossip of the town’s ladies. But rather looks of scorn and disgust, and wicked words that slandered and shamed her. Emma found all this difficult to bear despite Dr. Whale’s reassurance that people were just fickle, and in a few weeks no one would care about her engagement to her master, however falsified the details that Regina provided were. But it was Jefferson’s reputation she mourned the most. They had tried so hard to nurture his courage, and to build up his esteem in the town, but it had all been for naught; for if Jefferson were ever to return to Storybrooke now, all the townsfolk would see would be the scandal and the insanity, rather than the man within. And Emma knew that that scorn would kill any kindness or gentleness that the asylum should leave him with.

August was the first to find new employment; as an apprentice at the local carpenter’s shop, and was therefore the first to go. It would be harder for Ruby and Mrs. Lucas, as they needed to find a place to live as well as work, but Dr. Whale offered Ruby at least a small wage if she helped to clean his office and small apartments while she got back up on her feet. They moved into the small bed and breakfast on Main Street until more permanent lodgings could be found. Thus Emma, despondent and heartbroken decided to leave Storybrooke altogether, and that was how she found herself on Mary Margaret’s doorstep three days later.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma sat in a rocking chair by the fireplace in the small room that served as Mary Margaret’s dining room, sitting room, and kitchen all in one. Meanwhile Mary Margaret juggled baking a fresh loaf of bread in the oven, plucking a chicken for the stew that would be their dinner that evening, and fixing Emma a cup of tea for comfort while Emma told Mary Margaret about what had transpired over the last year or so. When she had finally finished her tale, Mary Margaret stood gaping at her in shock.

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Emma!” the dark-haired woman said, the sincerity and pity in Mary Margaret’s voice made Emma’s stomach twinge and her eyes start to burn with fresh tears.

“I always said you deserved a happy ending, and you were so close…” Emma ignored her friend’s fixation on fairy tale endings in favor of finishing her cup of tea. The leaves were not nearly as fine as the teas she was accustomed to in Jefferson’s house, but she’d have to get used to weak teas and less finery now wouldn’t she?

“You can stay here, as long as you want.” Mary Margaret said kneeling before Emma in the rocking chair to get her attention.

“Are you sure your husband won’t mind?” Emma asked, for Mary Margaret had been married while Emma had been working in 315 Forrest Road. “I don’t want to be a burden…”

Mary Margaret shook her head. “Of course not! I’ve told David all about you, it’s like you two are already family!”

At that moment the very man in question entered the house from where he had been digging a spare mattress out of the cellar.

“Is everything alright?” David asked, seeing Mary Margaret kneeling before Emma on the floor.

His wife hummed in answer and stood to peck him on the cheek. “Mmm… yes. Emma’s just worried about being a burden on us, and I told her that was nonsense.”

“Good, because it is.” He replied. “Emma, you are welcome in our home for as long as you want to be here. Mary Margaret speaks of you often and fondly, she considers you family, and her family is my family…”

“Thank you.” Emma replied with a weak smile, she was glad to know that she had friends such as Mary Margaret and David, and she was happy to see that Mary Margaret was positively glowing with happiness because of him, but that didn’t stop it from hurting her own heart for what she’d lost.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three months passed and eventually Emma moved off of the mattress in front of the fireplace in Mary Margaret and David’s kitchen and found her own space, once again as a maid in a wealthy family’s home.

The Bankses were an average sort of family, a father who worked, oddly enough, in a bank, a mother who ordered the household staff around and attended suffragette meetings in the afternoon, and two children who simply would not obey their nanny. The housekeeper was a gruff lady in her middles years who went by the name of Mrs. Cook. All the rest of the staff lived in constant fear of her since she frequently found fault in the work of others, and often drove them on ceaselessly without breaks. Unfortunately no other employment opportunities had opened in the town since Emma had arrived, and so she was forced to put up with the situation, no matter how ghastly.

One day after three weeks of working for this new family, one of the other servants answered a deliberate and urgent knocking at the door, and opened it to find a tall, thin man and a beautiful young woman standing beside him. Emma was called to greet the guests evidently here to see her.

When she entered the drawing room where the two strangers had been set up with a tray of tea and scones Emma was shocked to realize that they were not strangers at all, and her heart plummeted swiftly towards her shoes.

“Mr. Gold!?” She cried, standing rooted to the spot where she stood with her mouth agape in shock.

“Hello, dearie.” The man said with a shark-like grin.

Suddenly, Emma was irate.

“You were supposed to help him!” Emma shouted advancing rapidly and standing over him as menacingly as possible.

“You said _anything_!” There were tears threatening to fall now, but Emma refused to cry in front of this man. “You _bastard_! You _complete_ and _utter bastard_! You let her do this to him!” She grabbed Mr. Gold by the lapels and dragged him to his feet shaking him all the while.

“Emma, stop!” cried a voice beside her, and Emma ceased her assault of Mr. Gold long enough to look around and finally register just who Mr. Gold’s companion was.

“Belle?” she cried. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to help you, Emma!” Belle said softly, advancing to place a calming hand over Emma’s and leading her away from Mr. Gold.

“But what are _you_ doing here – with _him_?”

Belle smiled and glanced down at her shoes prettily.

“Well, he _is_ my husband.” She said.

Emma found herself speechless once again.

“Miss Swan, I understand your… distaste towards me, but I assure you if I could have spared Mr. Dodgeson this injustice, I would have; if only to put Mrs. Mills in her place. But she had everything too tightly sealed in her favor… That is no longer the case, which is why I have come to find you, no easy feat, I will admit, you have eluded me surprisingly well without evidence of trying. But I thought you would be amiable to the opportunity to both rescue your beloved Jefferson, and to push Regina Mills out of his circles for ever.”

Emma narrowed her eyes at him. “And what would I have to give you in return?”

“Nothing, much. Just your time, and you would have to quit this town tonight and come with us back to Maine…”

At that exact moment Mrs. Cook chose to investigate the racket that had been emanating from the sitting room.

“Miss Swan!” She said indignantly, stamping her foot. “What on _earth_ is all that hue and cry about? Good lord! And just _who_ are these _people_ , do you _know_ them?” There was a great deal of disgust present in her voice as she spoke.

Emma turned back to Mr. Gold with an annoyed sigh, and he cocked an inquisitory eyebrow at her.

“The decision is yours…” He said.

Emma turned back to Mrs. Cook without much more thought.

“Mrs. Cook, I resign.” She said with a curtsy. “And if this is to be our last meeting I would just like to take this opportunity to say that you smell of pee, you look like the wrong end of a dog and I have been feeding you burnt acorns instead of coffee without your knowledge for the past few weeks and you’ve been none the wiser. On that note, farewell you miserable cow.”

Mrs. Cook turned a rather impressive shade of purple and puffed up like an angry hen.

“Now see _here_!” she wailed. 

“I will collect my belongings this evening, kindly have them put out for me.”

Mrs. Cook seemed to find her voice again at this. “I’ll see to it you never work in this town again, young lady!” she shouted.

“I don’t intend to!” Emma replied with a laugh.

At which point Emma, Mr. Gold, and Belle left the house never to return.

“Well done, Miss Swan.” Mr. Gold said, once they were outside. “There’s hope for you yet.”

But Emma was too pleased with herself to rebuff him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma found herself back in Maine a few days later, this time returning to a collection of friends and acquaintances all gathered together for the sole purpose of freeing Jefferson from the asylum. Dr. Whale and August had agreed to meet them in Augusta, bringing with them Ruby’s regards and Mrs. Lucas’ blueberry pound cake.

The plan was simple; they would march into the asylum, and with a new court documents procured by Mr. Gold, free Jefferson into Emma’s care. The main document had been drafted by both Dr. Whale and Mr. Gold and was meant to convince the head physician of the asylum that Emma would be a suitable guardian and caretaker for Jefferson outside of the asylum. The other was a copy of an original which Dr. Whale had stumbled upon in his research into Jefferson’s case, this was to be used as their leverage.

Emma stared up at the foreboding brick structure though its wrought iron gates with a sense of dread curling through her stomach. She dimly remembered another time she had felt like this; as she peered through the iron bars that made up the fence in front of 316 Forrest Road and wondered at the man who lived in that mysterious dwelling… So much had happened since then, so much had changed.

“We’re with you, Emma.” Dr. Whale said noticing her dismay and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder in a gesture of solidarity.

Emma glanced back at him and smiled weakly.

“I’m just afraid of what we’ll find in there…”

Victor sighed. “It won’t be pleasant, that much I know. Inmates are sometimes loud or violent and often physically restrained to keep them from hurting themselves or others… I hope to God that Jefferson has been spared that indignity at least.”

“Do you think he has?” Emma asked, her eyes pleading.

But Victor could only shrug and shake his head, and with that they stepped through the gates for better or worse.

They were greeted by an attendant at the door and brought to the director’s office. It was a room that was at once impressive and foreboding. Impressive for the dark wood furniture and bookshelves that filled the room. Foreboding for the fact that the bookshelves were stuffed to overflowing, and not entirely by books. Dissected fragments of human brains sat pickled in jars along several of the walls accompanied sporadically by dense tomes labelled with titles such as “Phrenological Studies,” “Studies in the Treatment of Diseases of the Mind,” and three sinisterly bearing the titles “Lobotomy,” “Galvinism,” and “Electroshock Therapy.”

The director sat behind a large mahogany desk that took up the better part of the small office and was littered with papers. Only two chairs sat before it however, so Emma and Mr. Gold sat while Dr. Whale hovered above Emma’s left shoulder.

“I understand you’re here to appeal to me on Jefferson Lake’s behalf…?” The director said without looking up. He was portly and balding, with a pale complexion similar to Victor’s; that of a man who spent most of his days indoors.

“Indeed,” replied Mr. Gold. “We have reason to believe that he was wrongly placed in your care.”

The man snorted, rudely.

“Is something funny, Dr. Ledeaux?” asked Dr. Whale.

“Only that I find it hard to believe that his illness had escaped your attentions so much as for you to believe him not in need of professional care…” Dr. Ledeaux, did look up then and seeing their expressions chose to elaborate further. “The man, in my professional opinion, is quite mad; without hope of recovery.”

“And I’m sure Mrs. Mills’ donations to your institution have not swayed your professional opinion on this matter?” Mr. Gold said coldly.

Dr. Ledeaux stared at Mr. Gold hard for a long while. “It is true that Mrs. Mills was generous with her funds in order to secure proper care for her cousin, but I assure you – “

“Dr. Leduck – was it?”

“Ledeaux…”

Mr. Gold waved his hand dismissively, and retrieved a document from his briefcase and lay it out on Dr. Ledeaux’s desk. “Dr. Leduck, I have here a copy of a contract signed by yourself and Mrs. Mills outlining the conditions for her donations… including, in line 34, the ‘indefinite incarceration’ of Mrs. Mills cousin, Jefferson Lake, herein referred to as ‘the patient,’ and the ‘arrest of all attempts to free him by any other outside parties.’”

There was an awkward silence.

“So you see Doctor, in a court of law the two of you could be found guilty of conspiracy to hold a man against his will, quite possibly kidnapping, and I suspect, of cruel and unusual punishment... All of which could be avoided on your part with your full cooperation here today.”

Dr. Ledeaux began to sweat visibly and mopped his forehead with a handkerchief that he pulled from his pocket.

“Who- who exactly did you say you were?” Dr. Ledeaux stammered.

“My name is Mr. Gold, I am a family friend of the Dodgesons, including Miss Swan here.”

Dr. Ledeaux’s eyes swung over to Emma for the first time.

“And you are?” he asked.

“I’m his housekeeper.” Emma said, and the doctor raised an eyebrow at both of them.

“Tell him who you really are, Emma.” Mr. Gold prompted her. 

“His fiancée.” She said, finally catching on and pulled off a glove to show the doctor her left hand.

“Ah.” Said the doctor and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“And I believe you know, Dr. Victor Whale; Mr. Dodgeson’s personal physician?”

“Yes, we are acquainted.”

“Now sir, will you be cooperative? We intend to take Mr. Dodgeson off your hands _today_ , and I will assure you that no legal repercussions will fall on you or your establishment for aiding us to expedite the process.”

“Mr. Gold, I apologize but – “

“Dr. Ledeaux, I will _personally_ see to it that you are handsomely recompensed for your pains.”

“Yes, but Mr. Dodgson remains to be _unwell._ ” The Doctor said, seeming to have found his spine once more. “I couldn’t _possibly_ , in good conscience, release him into the public without _assurance_ that he will be properly looked after!”

“Mr. Dodgeson was well looked after before he entered these walls.” Dr. Whale said with a layer of barely concealed malice. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“But Mrs. Mills told me – “

“Doctor, did you not find it odd that Mrs. Mills seemed so adamant to see her relative kept here indefinitely?”

“In truth, Mr. Gold, I did not. That is not an uncommon desire amongst the relatives of the patients of my hospital…”

There was another awkward silence but mostly from Mr. Gold this time.

“Then people are barbaric in the face of those most in need of kindness.” Mr. Gold said. “But Mr. Dodgeson’s cousin was more interested in obtaining his fortune, as opposed to relieving herself of her duties to him… You see, she had nothing to do with him, entrusting his care entirely to strangers and friends.” Mr. Gold paused then changed tack, looking almost pleading. “Give him to us. Those who love him and call him ‘friend’; he will be safe and happy, and never bother a soul.”

After a pause Dr. Ledeaux sighed. “I will let you see him, and if after seeing the sorry state he is in you still want him, he is yours. I can always use the space for those who are truly unwanted.”

Emma’s fist clenched involuntarily and her heart leapt up into her throat.

“Shall I take you to him then?”

“Please do.” Mr. Gold replied.

 

_To be continued._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this chapter got so long that I had to break it in two. But not to worry, the second half is finished and buffed up all shiny and will be up tomorrow!


	5. Salvation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Last chapter; this has been a ride. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Act V

 

Their group stopped before a locked door a few corridors down from the Director’s office, but Dr. Ledeaux hesitated before turning the key.

“I must warn you all, particularly the lady… what you will see beyond this door may appear… disturbing to your eyes, but all that has been done has been done for the good of the patients… Perhaps it would be better for the lady to wait outside?” he asked, and all eyes turned to Emma.

“Take me to my fiancée, doctor.” Emma said with steel in her voice that brooked no alternative.

“Very well.” The doctor conceded and swung the door inward.

The first thing the visitors noticed was the smell of stale air and rancid piss; as if the windows that let in the paltry amount of light had never been opened. The asylum was a maze of dimly lit halls and small cell-like rooms where patients were kept; sometimes alone and sometimes crammed six into the same small space, either way, to Emma’s eyes hell could not conceive worse tortures.

Emma stepped into this hall with her mouth agape in horror. Patients who were not confined to their cells wandered the halls looking disheveled and disturbed, some wore straight-waistcoats others were only clad in thin medical shifts. Even Mr. Gold looked appalled at these conditions. Dr. Whale looked stoic, but sad.

“Come along then, if we gawp at them they tend to grow agitated.” Dr. Ledeaux said indicating the patients.

 Through open doors Emma glimpsed operating tables and strange chairs with leather straps. And everywhere she turned there seemed to be inmates strewn haphazardly throughout the halls. During daylight hours, the director explained, well-behaved and docile inmates were allowed to wander the halls, so long as they did not grow violent or agitated. Some were even allowed to walk the yard for an hour or two.

He whisked them down this hallway, around a sharp corner and down another long corridor until they reached a locked door marked “72.” A young woman with a long braid of yellow hair sat on the floor by the adjacent door.

“You’re Emma, aren’t you?” the girl asked looking up at them as Dr. Ledeaux fumbled with his keys. “You’re here to take him home?”

“Please leave the visitors be, Alice.” Dr. Ledeaux said, tersely.

But she caught hold of Emma skirts and tugged Emma down to her level.

“This place is not good for him. He’s drifting. He is beginning to believe that you were just a dream. That everything outside of this place was nothing more than a deluded fantasy. Can you help him?”

Emma nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Good, because he needs you.”

“That’s enough now!” Dr. Ledeaux snapped. “Back to your room.”

With that the girl stood and scurried back into her hidey hole, muttering something about mad hatters and march hares.

“Emma, would you please accompany Dr. Whale to see if the patient can recognize you?”

Fearing the worst Emma took a steadying breath then stepped into the cell to look upon her wayward fiancée.

The room was small and dark, with three cots wedged into the space, but only Jefferson occupied the room at the moment. He sat huddled in the corner of a cot with his head resting against the wall. His hair had grown into an unruly mop once more, as had his beard. He was dressed in the same hospital gown as the other patients, as well as the straight-jacket. He was also barefooted.

“Jefferson?” She called gently. “Jefferson it’s me, Emma.”

“Emma?” Jefferson’s voice hit her with the force of a steam engine so much had she missed him, but his next words broke her heart. “Another wraith sent here to torture me? I’ll have none of you, leave!”

Emma glanced back at the men by the door for help and Victor mimed for her to move closer. So Emma did, she stepped forward until she could sit by Jefferson’s feet at the end of the bed. Her weight settling on the mattress seemed to grasp his attention.

“No, my love, I’m here. I’m real.” She reached out and grasped his foot gently but he flinched away from her touch as if it burned him.

Emma had to choke back a sob.

“Don’t you recognize me, Mr. Dodgeson? … _Jefferson_.”

Finally his eyes seemed to focus on her clearly.

“Emma?” he asked. “Or have my eyes finally begun to betray me as well as my ears?”

“Have you been dreaming of me then?” she asked with a teary smile.

Dr. Whale took this moment of lucidity to step forward and examine his patient.

“Dreaming of you? When I wake and when I sleep it makes no difference. You haunt me, you damnable woman…”

“I apologize, sir. I did not mean to let my heart’s occupation vex you.”

“Now that you are here would you cease to bother me in phantom from?” his voice rose at the end of his sentence as if in askance. “It would do me good to have the world make sense again.”

“If all goes well today, you may never part from me again if that is what you wish.” She said reaching out to cup his cheek.

“I should like that. Very much.” He said. “But Emma, I’m so _tired_.”

Dr. Whale spoke from beside her. “Have you been giving him lithium?”

Dr. Ledeaux replied. “It is the only way to calm him, most days.”

“Then rest.” Emma said, ignoring the argument that broke out between the two doctors.

“But I’m afraid.” Jefferson said.

“Of what?”

“That you’ll be gone when I wake.”

Emma shook her head and tugged at his strait-jacket so that he lay with his head on her lap. She carded her fingers through his hair soothingly.

“I’ll stay right here. You sleep now, we have much to do once you’ve recovered…”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma was not allowed to linger after Jefferson fell asleep, however. His cellmates had to be returned to their places, and Dr. Ledeaux did not trust the other inmates alone around a respectable lady.

She reluctantly followed the others back to the director’s office. Dr. Whale argued with him the whole way, which resulted in Dr. Whale’s forceful removal from the building. Mr. Gold suggested that she should follow him, to make sure he was alright, but also because the only tasks left to do were legal technicalities which would no doubt be boring for her. Emma rolled her eyes, but did as she was bade, too emotionally spent to argue.

She found Dr. Whale sitting on the stoop with his head in his hands. It had begun to rain in the time they’d spent inside the asylum, and the ground was slowly saturating with the bitter rains of winter’s end. Emma sat beside him and tried to ignore the coldness of the water seeping through her skirts and underclothes to bite at her thighs and buttocks. She was silent for a long while as she contemplated the yard and what she had witnessed in the asylum. She had no doubt that some of those images would haunt her dreams for years to come. She could only imagine what Jefferson had witnessed and experienced whilst held within these walls, and how those experiences would haunt him.

“Are you alright, Victor?” Emma asked.

He looked up at her as if he had not noticed her arrival or her presence beside him for several minutes, and his eyes were red and shining.

“Forgive me, Miss Swan. I did not mean to trouble you while you’re already carrying such a heavy burden.”

Emma snorted in an unladylike fashion. “Talk to me.” She offered softly.

“If I had known what they would do to him, what _she_ would do to him… I’m so sorry, Emma. I’ve failed you both.”

Emma frowned. “How’s that? What could you have possibly done to stop this, which you didn’t already do?”

“I – I don’t know, but I should have thought of something.”

“Horse shit – you did all that could have been done, and I thank you for it, and I know that Jefferson is more grateful to you than he is to anyone else. You’ve spared him this for as many years as you’ve cared for him. It was our engagement that forced Regina’s hand; if we hadn’t given into temptation none of this would have happened.”

“No,” Dr. Whale said, darkly. “This wasn’t your fault. In fact, it wasn’t mine either, or even Jefferson’s; this was all Regina, and we must not forget that… But thank you Emma, for reminding me.”

“You are welcome,” she said, then she smiled cunningly. “But you must do something for me in return…”

Dr. Whale cocked an eyebrow at her. “And that is?”

“Ask Ruby to dinner… You like her, everyone can see it.”

Dr. Whale groaned. “Is it really that obvious?”

Emma grinned at him. “Yes; to everyone but yourselves. She likes you too.” 

It was then, that Mr. Gold came to retrieve them.

“It is done.” He said. “But we still have one last demon to face before you and our mad hatter can live happily-ever-after…”

“Regina.” Emma and Dr. Whale said in unison.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Jefferson awoke all the papers had been signed for his release, and they piled Jefferson into a horse-drawn cab to take them back to their hotel in Augusta. In addition to acute mental distress at the hands of his doctors, Jefferson was suffering from a bronchial infection caused by the damp and dreary atmosphere of the asylum.

Dr. Whale speculated that a few more weeks in that cell would have led to pneumonia and possibly more severe consequences. The doctor concluded that the best thing for him in his present condition would be to sleep, as it was likely that the fever from his infection in combination with the lithium he had been sedated with, was causing his mental state to deteriorate more than necessary, leading to auditory and visual hallucinations. So he administered small doses of morphine to keep Jefferson asleep and relatively comfortable while his body tried to heal itself.

Emma and Belle acted as Jefferson’s nurses as he drifted in and out of consciousness. For Emma, this was a time of heart ache, as she hated to see the man she loved in such a state. He was incredibly weak, needing assistance to make even the short journey from the bed in the hotel room to the privy and back. Horrendous coughing fits would attack in the middle of the night and Emma would have to heave him up into a sitting position in order to make sure that he didn’t choke to death on phlegm. Jefferson also suffered mentally, as if physical sickness were not enough to torture him with. When he woke enough to realize that he did not recognize his surroundings he screamed, and yelled, and thrashed about so much so that Dr. Whale would be forced to immediately sedate him once more with another larger dose of the drug as August and Mr. Gold struggled to hold his arms and legs. It was said that mad men were possessed with abnormal strength, and Jefferson certainly lent some credence to this idea when in such fits of fear and anger. Emma had tried to calm Jefferson from one of these episodes as she used to, with kind words and a gentle hand running across his face and through his hair, but all that had earned her was a black eye.

The only thing that got her through this time was Dr. Whale’s reassurances that this would all be worth it in the end. Once Jefferson’s fever broke, they could wean him off the morphine and then bring him back to Storybrooke and confront Regina properly. But this did not keep her from despairing from time to time, and occasionally her emotions would get the better of her and she would seek out a secluded space in which to weep out her frustrations with the world.

Belle had found her in the middle of one of these outpourings of emotion and sat with her, quietly rubbing her shoulder as Emma sobbed into the hem of her dress. When Emma’s tears had run their course and all that she had strength left for were half-hearted hiccupping whimpers, Belle handed her an embroidered handkerchief and began to tell her a story from the book she was currently reading. It was a story about a young woman who came to work as the governess for a wealthy-bachelor’s ward, and over time and through extraordinary circumstance they grew to love one another. But an insurmountable impediment existed in the form of the bachelor’s secret and quite mad wife. The girl, Jane, fled the house and her lover, only to be drawn back by mysterious supernatural forces when the man’s wife had tried to kill him and took her own life. She arrived back at the old house to find it in ruins, and her lover a broken man, but he is still the one she loves and so they marry and eventually all their unhappiness passes into bliss.

Emma was calm by the time Belle finished narrating the story, and she hugged Belle and whispered a heart-felt “Thank you.” in her ear.

Meanwhile, as Jefferson mended, Mr. Gold prepared for the confrontation with Regina that loomed on the horizon. Judges, solicitors, and attorneys were consulted, as it was a delicate business unwinding Regina’s web from around Jefferson’s life and fortune, and it must be executed with the greatest of care or risk retaliation. Jefferson’s house and other material properties were forfeit, having been legally attained by Regina and then sold. His bank accounts, stocks and bonds however could still be salvaged through some clever manipulations of the law. Fortunately, Mr. Gold was a master of such manipulations.

Finally, after two weeks Jefferson’s fever broke and Dr. Whale began to lessen his doses of morphine. Meaning that when he was awake he was more aware of his surroundings, and leading to fewer violent outbursts. Emma was there the first time he woke with clear eyes, and she nearly cried with relief for the smile that broke over his face.

She did cry when in a voice rough and horse from disuse he croaked, “Emma.”

But they were tears of happiness rather than the ones of grief that she had been shedding in moments of despair. So she took his hand in hers and did not let go until Dr. Whale insisted that he must inspect his patient.

Later that day as Jefferson lay back amongst the pillows, and the serving tray of his supper was taken away she and Jefferson are left alone and Emma still cannot let go of his hand. Fortunately, Jefferson did not seem to mind in the least.

“I’m sorry that this happened, Emma - ” Jefferson started an apology but Emma cut him off with a finger on his lips.

“Don’t. _Please_ , don’t. None of this was your fault. This was Regina, and no one else.”

“But I should have seen this coming.” He said with a frown. “I always knew she was after my fortune; it was only a matter of _when_ she would choose to strike. I should have been ready for her.”

“You’re not a lawyer, Jefferson. You couldn’t have known how to stop her. She had you in her web and she knew that she controlled all the strings… The only reason we’ve been able to escape her this time is because Mr. Gold was outside of her control and because he owed your uncle a favor.”

Mr. Gold had told her as much one night after dinner, during Jefferson’s bout of sickness when she’d asked why he was helping them. Mr. Gold had been bankrupt, alcoholic, and mourning the death of his wife and son; and Jefferson’s uncle had given Mr. Gold a loan of money and a job when no one else would. Mr. Gold, a man infamous for the deals that he made, was at least a man of his word when it came to his own debts and favors owed.

Jefferson frowned again and stared down at their entwined fingers.

“Perhaps you are right.” He said after a while. “Perhaps there was nothing I could have done before, but now that I am in the position to excise Regina from my life I will do it with relish… She will not control me anymore. I may not be a completely sane man, but my _wife_ will be a sane woman, and I will, under oath, and with all my friends as witnesses sign my life and my fortunes into _her_ care as my new legal guardian.”

Emma gaped at him. “Can you do that?” She asked.

Jefferson smirked a little, an expression that gave Emma infinite hope towards his full recovery. “I certainly hope so, as I understand it therein lies the crux of Mr. Gold’s plan to free me. When we marry, all my assets and all the decisions regarding my care will legally pass to my spouse. And so long as my esteemed physician confirms that the decision to marry was made freely, and in full sanity of mind, there is no one who can stop it.”

Emma felt something like hope curl around her heart, and she smiled at him gently.

“There is only one other matter that remains unseen to.” Jefferson said, suddenly looking so serious that Emma knew he was only half so.

“And what is that?” She asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

“I need to find a wife.” He said, his smirk returning ten-fold.

Emma wacked him on the arm and Jefferson laughed even as he winced in pain.

“Will you still have me, Emma? Even so broken as I am? More so than I was before… I would not begrudge you the reasons if you have changed your mind – or heart.” This time, Emma could see that he was in deathly earnest.

“You stupid man.” Emma sighed. “If my mind or my heart had changed why would I be here?”

Jefferson opened and closed his mouth several times before replying. “I suppose you wouldn’t.”

“I love you, Jefferson, as much as I ever have, if not more. So if you still desire me to be your wife, I would gladly accept.”

Jefferson fought not to smile, and if his eyes looked bright with tears Emma attributed it to the dim light of the lone candle flickering on the bed-side table. But instead of an answer he drew her forward into a kiss full of longing and so full of passion and love that it burned away the pain of the last few weeks.

“Mr. Gold will assemble all the papers and the judge tomorrow then,” Jefferson said when the kiss ended, but he pressed his forehead against hers so that they remained close, “And we shall be legally bound before we return to Storybrooke...”

Emma frowned, not sure if she liked the idea overly much even if she could see the necessity. She only wished that all of her friends could be present. But Jefferson seemed to understand this.

“When this is over, we shall then have a second wedding in the church – with all the pomp and ceremony and with all of our friends there to celebrate with us as well. The one tomorrow will be out of necessity; the one after will be for our enjoyment.”

“Very well.” She said, as she climbed into the bed beside him and leaned over him to snuff out the candle. Darkness fell across the room like the stroke of an axe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma and Jefferson were married the following morning just before noon. Emma wore the same shabby dress she had worn as the Banks’ maid, and Jefferson was forced to wear in his grimy hospital clothes with shaggy hair and beard. He was also leaning heavily on a cane to keep him from collapsing, as he was not yet back to full strength.

It was a rushed affair, with the both of them signing and counter signing paper after paper, and Mr. Gold explaining this and that, and Dr. Whale swearing to this and that, but there would be time for savouring the moment later. There was too much to do in too short a span of time. Time was of the essence for it was only so long before Regina learned of Jefferson’s release. Mr. Gold had spent a small fortune in bribes to keep Dr. Ledeaux quiet for the time being, but the moment the bribes dried up he could be counted on for nothing in the face of a woman like Regina’s wrath. But they did at least celebrate with a bottle of champagne passed around their hotel room.

They returned to Storybrooke the next day. Jefferson, Emma, Mr. Gold and Belle all took up residence in the town’s only inn, and by the time Dr. Whale arrived to check on them with Ruby in tow, news of their return had spread around the town and back several times over. Now all that was left was for them to wait until Regina confronted them, as she most assuredly would. As sure as the sun set in the west.

She came that very day in fact. The six of them; Mr. Gold, Belle, Jefferson, Emma, Dr. Whale, and Ruby, were all taking tea in the parlor of the Inn when Regina stormed in, followed closely by Judge Albert Spencer, her legal pawn amid Storybrooke’s courts, who had approved of Jefferson’s institutionalization in the first place.

“Well, well if it isn’t our dear friend Mrs. Mills?” Mr. Gold said as she entered the room. “Come in dearie, and take a seat. Would you care for a spot of tea? We’ve been expecting you.”

Jefferson went stiff beside Emma on the sofa, and she could hear the tea cup tinkling against the saucer as Jefferson’s hands shook. With rage or anxiety Emma couldn’t tell from the firm set of his mouth, but she reached over to squeeze his knee all the same. Jefferson slowly set the teacup down on the table before them and then took her hand in his, squeezing it hard. This did not escape Regina’s notice and her face darkened considerably.

“What is _he_ doing here?” Regina hissed, ignoring Mr. Gold’s offer of tea. This comment was made in Judge Spencer’s direction as much as it was in theirs.

“Dr. Ledeaux felt that Jefferson was not best served in his institution, and released him into our care… Oh, and Mr. Dodgeson has married his sweetheart. Apologies that you weren’t invited, but you weren’t wanted.” Mr. Gold said, with a wicked smile.

Belle kicked him on the shin, but it was worth it to see Regina’s face turn a lovely shade of puce as she realized what that entailed. 

“You can’t!” she protested. “I specifically emphasized that Jefferson had been declared unable to perceive reality enough to marry of his own free will!”

“Yes, and as Mr. Dodgeson’s legally appointed physician, it is _my_ professionalopinion which was able to supersede that emphasis.” Dr. Whale said standing and handing Regina a stack of legal papers bound in cord.

Judge Spencer took them from the doctor, and stepped close to the fire in order to inspect them more closely. A few tense minutes passed where all that could be heard was the quiet tick-tock of the clock on the mantle. It seemed that the only member of the room not holding their breath was Mr. Gold who looked smugly confident as he stared at Regina, simply reveling in her discomfort and rage.

Finally Judge Spencer looked up from the paper, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“It’s all present and correct. There’s nothing I can do, Mrs. Mills.”

Regina stepped forward and knocked the papers out of his hand into the fireplace where they quickly caught and turned to ashes.

“Useless!” She spat at him. “Do I have to do _everything_ myself?”

Mr. Gold tsked at her and held up a second copy of the papers. “Terribly childish of you, my dear, and stupid. Did you really think I’d let you anywhere near the originals?”

“I _will_ get you for this, Gold.” She snarled. “This isn’t over, Jefferson! You’re a danger to everyone around you. Eventually you’re going to trip up, and I will be there when it happens, and I’ll make sure you _never_ get out of that asylum again. Enjoy your freedom while I lasts, dear cousin, and enjoy your pretty little _wife_ … it won’t last.”

Jefferson glared as he stood from the sofa and advanced towards Regina. Emma could not see his expression but it must have been dark with the madness that she knew lingered beneath the surface, for Regina paled considerably and back-pedaled until she was stopped by the closed door of the inn. When Jefferson stood toe to toe with her he calmly reached around her and pushed the door open.

“Good bye, cousin.” He said, and stooped to kiss her coldly on the cheek. Regina flinched away from him.

“You’re getting at least one thing you wanted, Regina.” Jefferson said. “You will never see me again. Take heart in that.”

Then he turned his back on her and returned to the sofa to sit once more beside Emma. Regina fled the moment his back was turned and Jefferson didn’t spare her a glance.

“You might want to leave too, your honor.” Jefferson said as he resumed his seat.

Judge Spencer cleared his throat and wisely followed Regina out the door.

The room erupted into ecstatic whoops of victory once the door closed behind the judge. Jefferson breathed a sigh of deep relief, and then surged forward to kiss Emma breathless. Laughter bubbled up from Emma’s chest in between Jefferson’s frantic kisses and the clutched the lapels of his suit to keep her hands from shaking with the excess of adrenaline. So inspired by Jefferson’s example, and embolden by their victory, Dr. Whale did the same to Ruby who squealed in surprise and then returned the kiss with enthusiasm. Mr. Gold just sat back and watched the younger pairs of lovers celebrate and pressed a gentle kiss to Belle’s knuckles. Belle simply smiled over them all benevolently, and whispered to her husband how proud she was of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jefferson and Emma celebrated their second wedding the following week. They would have done so the following day, but weddings do take time to arrange. For this wedding however, Emma wore white, with a veil of lace. Jefferson went to the barber and the tailor to be rid of the ‘asylum inmate’ appearance he had been wearing and bought Emma a wedding band to go with her engagement ring. And during the ceremony it was Dr. Whale who gave Jefferson away, since there was no one to fill the role on Emma’s behalf. This caused yet another scandal to be published in the Storybrooke Mirror, and then circulated around the town. Mary Margaret and David had travelled up from Massachusetts after Emma sent them a telegram from Augusta. Only a few select friends had actually been invited, Ruby, her grandmother, Mr. Gold, Belle, August, the Darlings, and a few others who’d been frequent guests at Jefferson’s tea parties, but nearly the whole rest of the town had shown up anyway. The wedding party then descended upon the inn for supper and libations; considering that none of the people in the wedding party currently owned a house large enough to entertain all of the guests. But no one seemed to mind in the least. A few instruments were assembled from here and there, and one side of the common room was cleared for dancing.

All the while, Jefferson kept Emma close. Either with his hand tightly gripping hers, or with his eyes following her about the room; as if he were afraid to lose sight of her, even for a moment, elsewise of this would evaporate into thin air as yet another phantasm of his mind, and he would find himself once more alone and wretched in the mad house. But Emma did not mind his attentions in the least.

In the end, and so late in the night that it was, in fact, early morning; the owners of the establishment had to shoo the wedding guests off in order to close and prepare breakfast which was to be sought after only a few hours off by the inn’s other guests. After seeing off their wedding guests, Emma and Jefferson retired to their room with plans not to leave it for at least a week. They fell into bed enraptured with one another, and lay warm, in a tangle of limbs, with contented smiles on their faces. 

“Are you happy, Mrs. Dodgeson?” Jefferson said in a low voice, and Emma beamed at the use of her new name.

“Very.” She replied.

He moved forward to kiss her softly and then whispered, “Good.”

“There is one thing that troubles me, however.” He said as he pulled away.

Emma frowned. “Oh, really? What would that be?”

“It seems to me that I am a blessed man in all ways but one. I have a wife and friends who love me. I have funds with which to support myself, and my family. But it seems that I have nowhere to house them; my last place of residence being a mental institution, and the one preceding that being forfeit due to legal technicalities...”

“Ah.” Emma nodded, sagely. “I had had a thought about that very thing, actually.”

“You did?” Jefferson looked surprised.

“Yes. Dr. Whale suggested to me that sunlight and a warmer climate might do you much good towards recovery. And we agreed that a short absence from Storybrooke might be prudent in order to avoid Mrs. Mills’ wrath.”

Jefferson still looked confused, and Emma sighed.

“I thought we might enjoy seeing a bit of the wider world before we find a more permanent residence. We couldn’t be freer than we are right now; and it is something that I have always wanted…”

Emma spoke with excitement and fervor, but gradually lost her courage as she went on. Fortunately, Jefferson had never heard a better course of action, and so he agreed.

They departed a few days later, travelling to Boston and boarding a steam liner that would take them across the ocean and on to greater adventures. They had promised their friends that they would return soon and settle down properly, but those who knew them found that hard to believe. Neither Jefferson nor Emma were birds of a roosting feather, and as such, small towns like Storybooke were unlikely to hold their attention for very long. In that way, they were a perfect match for one another.

Eventually they did settle down however, as Emma had to give birth to their first child, a girl they named Grace. And they purchased a house by the sea, in a new town not far from Storybrooke so as to be close to their friends, but far enough that they could not be recognized as “the mad hatter” and “the housekeeper who married her master.” The scorn that the couple had cultivated through that scandal had not yet died down, and the Dodgeson’s were still mostly unwelcome in Storybrooke, if only for fear of Regina and her machinations.

A second child soon followed the first; a boy this time, whom they called Henry. Around this same time Mary Margaret and David had welcomed their own child into the world, and Dr. Whale and Ruby celebrated their marriage.

True to Mr. Gold’s promise, Regina Mills never bothered them again, and though their lives were not untouched by sadness or struggle; Jefferson was still a madman plagued by his illness, and life spares no one from occasional periods of grievance, they were still happy with where chance had led them. Emma had never imagined to meet a man like Jefferson, let alone marry him. And Jefferson had never looked to leave his house again once he had been confined there so many years ago. But both had come to pass regardless, and though they did not live happily ever after, they did live life happily.

 

_Fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Once again, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this fanfic at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it. It’s been about a year in the making, (this was meant to be a single chapter fic for a Secret Santa swap last Christmas; oops) but I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.
> 
> If you enjoyed why not let me know? I really do appreciate feedback on my work, and something as simple as “liked it!” will be cherished just as much as something longer. We fanfic authors really do live for the praise, since writing is hard and not much else comes out of sharing these pieces. 
> 
> Cheers!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!


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